7 greatest finishers in ODIs

Some ODIs go down the wire, like they were scripted to give the gods some thrill. These need nothingless than extraordinary performances from cricketing gods to pull off. ODI heists usually reveal nerves ofsteel and unflinching courage to take all the right calls on the ground. Every team therefore, bets big onfinishers, cricketers who come to the party in crunch situations. These are the cricketers that teams relyto have their back, cricketers who never shy away from a scrap or dogfight.But, how do you pick the top finishers of all time in ODIs? Are these the guys, who have stacked upthe notouts over the years, making sure, they are there taking the team over the line. Are these theguys who have super-human averages? Are these the batsmen who have scored a lot of runs in chasesor with tailenders? The answer though comes as a combination. However, since finishing is a nichebusiness, the author has given more priority to not-outs as opposed to averages in wins, which are lowerfor Steve Waugh and Boucher, although their innings are worth their weight in gold. Mind you, we areleaving out players like Virat Kohliand AB de Villiers out of the list, although they have allthe makings of owning this list half a decade from now.

#7 Mark Boucher

Mark Boucher was the steel-nerved finisher of that epic ODI. A wicket-keeper, who comes at No.7, has 46 not-outs in wins with a strike-rate of 116 – you’ll take that any day unless you have Dhoni himself. Boucher has long been the hammer and anvil batsman in the South African lower order, capable of seeing his crumbling team through. He would have been remembered with a lot more fondness had he ran a single against Murali after tonking that casual six, in the match where South Africa finally understood how to read D/L charts. Lance Klusener is another teammate of Boucher, who is just edged out, in spite of his sensational showing in the 1999 World Cup in particular.

#6 Arjuna Ranatunga

In terms of stats, Arjuna Ranatunga will find it hard to compete with a lot of modern-day batsmen. However, the only Sri Lankan to lead his team to World Cup victory, with an unbeaten innings in the final, Ranatunga is one of the game’s coolest and most composed finishers. He amassed more than 1500 runs in each of the 33 innings where he remained unbeaten to see Sri Lanka through with an impressive strike rate of over 90. More importantly, he was the No.6 that offered comfort and composure to a team that had to still learn how to win consistently, long before gems like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, made winning a habit.

#5 Inzamam-ul-Haq

Pakistan has had some sparkling finishers in the past. You have Javed Miandad who scored a mean of 50 runs in each of the 31 innings, where he saw his country through to victory. There is Abdul Razzaq, someone who’ll make you wonder why, he isn’t already a legend in his country, striking at nearly 117 with 46 not-outs in wins. But, Inzy, once the boy-wonder who along with Wasim Akram helped Imran lift the World Cup has been Pakistan’s best batsman and even as per the stats, their best finisher. 2745 runs with 46 not-outs in wins at nearly 93, is a record that doesn’t need any explanation, does it?

#4 Steve Waugh

The World Cup of 1999. Australians were yet to become the Invincibles. Legend has it that Waugh himself pronounced Gibbs guilty of dropping the World Cup. Waugh is all grit. The twin brother of Mark would put his hands up when no one else was having a good time. It comes as little wonder then that although he has a below-par average in ODIs, 50 off his 58 not-outs have been in an Australian victory. The big-match player edges out one of his rooks Damien Martyn, who himself had 49 not-outs in wins along with 2000

#3 Sir Vivian Richards

He was the game’s original master-blaster, the man who brought swagger to batting, who intimidated the most intimidating of fast bowlers of his era. But, behind all that arrogance was a rock solid, finisher who single-handedly took West Indies home on umpteen occasions.

All 24 of his not-outs have come in a West Indies win, a fascinating stat in itself. A strike-rate of 80 is good in ODIs even today. 3 decades ago, Richards knocked them at 90, which spiked to 104 in West Indies wins.

#2 Michael Bevan

He was part of that invincible Australian team during the first decade of the 21^st century. The match, no matter what the situation, was not over till Bevan was out there in the middle, one of the most notable being Australia’s win over New Zealand in the 2003 World Cup (84/7 before being rescued by Bevan and Andy Bichel).

Bevan was the classic accumulator, who ran hard between the wickets, farmed strike when necessary and always new how to convert 1s to 2s and 2s to 3s. Apart from the ODI average of 53, what makes Bevan a great finisher, is his not-out tally of 53 in winning chases and 67 overall.

#1 MS Dhoni

The Indian skipper is known for his cool demeanour on the field at all times, an utter lack of emotion on his face, no matter what the situation and a scintillating consistency when it comes to pulling off matches from improbable situations. There will always be a debate as to who the greatest finisher was, Dhoni or Bevan. In fact, they are unbelievably close in terms of numbers, although, Dhoni still has quite a bit of time left on his hands.

The record-holder for highest individual score by a wicket-keeper averages 53.28, just a touch below Bevan’s. However, Dhoni has 8000 runs, a good 1000 more than Bevan and a strike rate that is 15 points more. That strike-rate in ODIs makes him a good contender for the top spot.

On the all-time list, Dhoni is very close to Bevan’s not-out tally, not to mention his contributions in matches that matter, the 2011 World Cup Final being a prime example. Dhoni’s staggering record in chases that resulted in wins shows his criticality as a finisher. He averages 74.57 in wins, the highest for anyone with more than a 1000 runs in wins.