Top 10 ODIs of all time

The first ever One Day International (ODI) was played between Australia and England at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 5 January 1971. In 43 years of ODI cricket since, there have been plenty of great ODIs that instantly come to mind. In recent years, though, there has been a bit of cynicism surrounding the future of ODI cricket especially due to the boom in popularity of T20 cricket. The nature of ODI cricket is such that almost a dozen close matches are played every year. With that being the case, choosing top 10 ODIs wasn’t an easy task. Here are the criteria on the basis of which I have come up with the below 10 matches.1. The weight that the match carried was given paramount importance. There have been many great ODIs played in bilateral series, but those have been largely ignored because of the run-of-the-mill nature of many of those games.2. Matches where the odds were heavily stacked against one team that finally managed to emerge triumphant have been given consideration.3. Matches that turned out to be memorable as a result of individual records have been avoided, as well, which is why the match where Sachin Tendulkar scored the 1st double hundred in ODI cricket history has been overlooked. Here are the top 10 ODIs of all time:

#10 England vs India at Lord\'s, England (13 July 2002)

India won the Natwest Series in 2002

The Natwest Final between England and India at Lord’s in 2002 is one of the most cherished ODIs of all-time from an Indian perspective. Chasing England’s total of 325/8 from 50 overs, thanks to hundreds from Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain, the Indian openers went all guns blazing and reached 100 within the first 15 overs.

But the end of the fielding restrictions brought England back into the game, and they had India at 146/5 not too later and on the brink of another defeat in a final.

The duo of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, however, played with gumption belying their years and put on a partnership of 121 for the 6th wicket, taking India to within touching distance of the target before the former fell for 67 to put the match back in England’s favour once again.

Kaif ensured no further lapses from his end and took the Indians to a famous 2-wicket victory in the final over with some valuable support from the lower order.

#9 New Zealand vs Australia in Hamilton, New Zealand (20 February 2007)

Matthew Hayden’s 181 from 166 balls saw Australia reach a daunting total of 346 for the loss of 5 wickets from their 50 overs. In reply, the Black Caps got off to the worst possible start as skipper Stephen Fleming departed for single digits.

Lou Vincent, Ross Taylor and Scott Styris were dismissed shortly after, leaving New Zealand at 4/41 and in danger of a shellacking at the hands of the Aussies. But Craig McMillan helped the Kiwis make a stunning recovery with an innings of 117 – including 13 fours and 5 sixes - from just 96 balls.

There was another late twist in the tale when McMillan was sent back to the pavilion by Shane Watson, but Brendon McCullum’s 86* and a brief cameo of 28 from 15 balls from No. 10 batsman Mark Gillespie got New Zealand over the line with 3 balls to spare.

#8 Australia vs West Indies in Sydney, Australia (1 January 1996)

Michael Bevan firmly established himself as one of the great one-day cricketers with his exploits during the ODI against West Indies at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in 1996. In pursuit of 173 from 43 overs in a rain-curtailed game, Australia were down in the dumps at 6/38 at one stage of their innings.

But Bevan, in conjunction with Ian Healy and Paul Reiffel, somehow managed to rescue Australia and pull off a miraculous one-wicket win off the very last ball of the innings.

#7 India vs Sri Lanka in Rajkot, India (15 December 2009)

ODIs where both teams score a truckload of runs leading to it virtually becoming a boundary-hitting contest with the bowlers having no chance of dismissing the batsmen can actually be quite boring, but the Rajkot ODI wasn’t one of those.

India made 414/7 in their 50 overs after being inserted in by the Sri Lankans on a batting beauty, with opening batsman Virender Sehwag adding to his list of ODI centuries as he made 146 off 102 balls. Sri Lanka, though, weren’t dispirited given the nature of the pitch at Rajkot and knew that they had more than a decent chance of chasing down the total.

Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara scored blistering half-centuries, while Tillakaratne Dilshan struck 160 from 124 balls. But it wasn’t enough as Sri Lanka fell short of the target by a mere 3 runs.

#6 Australia vs England in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (2 March 2003)

Australia eventually went through the 2003 ICC World Cup in South Africa unbeaten, but that wouldn’t have been possible without the dazzling partnership of 73 between Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel in the game against England.

Andy Bichel, earlier in the match, had taken 7/20 from his 10 overs, to restrict England to a total of 204/8 in 50 overs.

Australia, given the rich vein of form they were in, would have expected to chase the target without breaking sweat. But that wasn’t to be as England’s Andy Caddick took the first 4 wickets of the Australian innings for not too many, to leave the Ricky Ponting-led team tottering at 135/8. That brought Bichel to the crease, and he continued his good work in the match.

He put on a fantastic half-century partnership alongside the very-dependable Bevan (74*) for the 9th wicket, which was enough to lend a nail-biting 2-wicket victory to Australia.

#5 New Zealand vs South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland (24 March 2015)

So close, yet so far. This has been the story of the South African cricket teams over the past two decades at the ICC Cricket World Cup. And in 2015, it was no different.

Choosing to bat first on a good batting track, the Proteas got off to an uneasy start, losing their openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla without many runs on the board. Faf du Plessis, who came into bat at number three, played a handy knock and Rilee Rossouw gave him good company. Rossouw was dismissed before he could make the most of his start, but that brought to the crease the dangerous AB de Villiers.

Just as de Villeirs got going and was already striking at over a run per ball, rain intervened. That kind off ruined the South African captain’s momentum, but a brilliant knock from David Miller ensured that South Africa posted 281 on the board in 43 overs (with the target set to 298 from 43 overs).

A blitz from Brendon McCullum put the Kiwis in total command of the game and when Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson put on a 100+ run partnership, it looked like the game was beyond South Africa’s reach. But then, there was a twist as some brilliant bowling from Morne Morkel brought the Proteas back into the game.

Dale Steyn needed to defend 11 in the final over to take the African team to their first World Cup final. But in the battle of wits, it was South African-born New Zealander Elliott who came out on top as he smacked a six off the penultimate delivery of the innings to guide the Blackcaps home.

#4 Australia vs Sri Lanka in Melbourne, Australia (3 November 2010)

Just prior to the start of the Ashes series Down Under in 2010-11, Australia played an ODI series against Sri Lanka at home, which they would’ve been keen to win in order to propagate a feel-good factor among the camp; in fact, they looked well on their way to doing so. They posted 239 on the board after choosing to bat first and had Sri Lanka on the ropes at 107/8 at one stage.

But Australia made the fatal mistake of thinking that the match was already in the bag, only for Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga to put together a quite magnificent stand of 132 for the 9th wicket. Although Malinga got out on the score of 56 with one more run still required, Muttiah Muralitharan came out and struck a boundary without any fuss, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead in the series.

This was the match that confirmed to the world that Mathews, the then 23-year old, had the potential to be a world-class finisher, with his innings of 77 off 84 deliveries in a tight run chase containing composure well beyond his age.

#3 India vs Pakistan at Sharjah (18 April 1986)

Despite the match in question breaking a billion Indian hearts every time it is brought up, it would have to be said that the Austral-Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan at Sharjah in 1986 ranks among the best ODIs of all-time. Javed Miandad hit a breathtaking 116 from 114 balls and helped Pakistan chase down a target of 246 from 50 overs, but that tells you only a part of the story.

Needing 4 runs off the final delivery, Miandad struck a low full toss from Chetan Sharma for a six over the mid-wicket boundary and gave his team one of their most memorable victories against their arch-rivals.

#2 South Africa vs Australia at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (12 March 2006)

With the series tied at 2-2 going into the 5th and final ODI, at Johannesburg, Australia capitalized on a placid batting track as they scored a record 434 for the loss of just four wickets in 50 overs. Ponting was the star of the show for the Australians, scoring a career-best 164 at a strike rate of 156.19 with 13 boundaries and 9 sixes.

You could not have blamed the Australians for thinking that they had pretty much won the match during the innings break; little did they know of what was to follow. South Africa, with nothing to lose, came all guns blazing and chased down the target of 435 for the loss of 9 wickets with a ball to spare, thereby setting a new world record for the highest successful run-chase in ODI cricket, which is yet to be surpassed.

Herschelle Gibbs was awarded the Man-of-the-Match for his innings of 175 from 111 balls, while Graeme Smith struck 90 from just 55 deliveries at the start of the innings and gave the team the belief that they could pull off what was a seemingly impossible task.

#1 Australia vs South Africa at Edgbaston, Birmingham (17 June 1999)

The 2nd semi-final of the 1999 World Cup between Australia and South Africa at Edgbaston in Birmingham, by common consensus, is the best ODI to have ever been played.

There was a bit of history to this semi-final encounter as Australia had beaten South Africa in the Super Sixes just four days earlier, courtesy of a magnificent century by Australian captain Steve Waugh.

That seemed to matter little when South Africa, after winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, got off to an excellent start as they had the Aussies in deep trouble at 4/68 after 17 overs. Waugh, however, resurrected the Australian innings once again along with Michael Bevan, as they scored 56 and 65 respectively. But their efforts weren’t enough to prevent the team from being bowled out for 213 in 49.2 overs, thereby setting the Proteas a moderate target of 214 from 50 overs.

South Africa didn’t let the momentum slip during their run chase, being comfortably placed at 48/0 after the first 12 overs with Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten going along nicely.

With Australia seemingly going out of the World Cup, they turned to their match-winner in Shane Warne in the quest for a couple of quick wickets, and he duly answered his captain’s call. Warne dismissed Gibbs, Kirsten, Hansie Cronje and Jacques Kallis, finishing up with outstanding figures of 10-4-29-4.

But the real drama was yet to unfold. Just as Lance Klusener struck 31 from just 16 balls and looked set to take South Africa to their first ever World Cup final, he lost his composure. With one to get off 4 balls and one wicket in hand, he mistimed a yorker from Damien Fleming straight to Mark Waugh at mid-off and scampered to the other end.

Donald, meanwhile, stayed glued to his crease unaware of Klusener’s intentions, thereby getting run out at the striker’s end with scores level, taking Australia through to the final.