Top 5 ODI centuries for a losing cause

Cricket sure is a funny game. It has happened on countless occasions that even some of the best individual performances of all time have not been able to secure a win for the team, simply because the other team emerged better in the end.

Sachin Tendulkar, who has played the highest number of ODIs till date and has the record of most ODI runs under his belt, also holds the record for most runs (6585) and the most number of centuries (14) in a losing cause, out of his total tally of 18426 ODI runs and 49 ODI centuries.

If a player scores a century and the team loses, we can be sure that the match witnessed some brilliant cricket being played, more so from the winning side, that had to bounce back after the damage caused by the ton being scored.

Here are 5 such instances where batsmen came up with brilliant knocks of over a 100 runs but could not ensure victory for their teams, and the viewers took back an amazing game of cricket.

5. Charles Coventry 194* vs Bangladesh (Bangladesh in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, 2009)

This came as a lone contribution from the Zimbabwe player, as no one else managed to get runs in this particular match. Coventry walked in with the score at 5/1 and stayed not out when the team ended at 312 in the allotted 50 overs, only to score the highest score ever in a one-day for a losing cause.

The best partnership was that of 107 between him and Matsikenyeri who chipped in with the second best score of the innings, a mere 37.

Coventry’s innings lasted 156 balls, and he struck 16 fours and 7 sixes. He didn’t spare a single bowler who bowled to him, with some towering sixes in the long-on to mid-wicket region to Mahbubul Alam and even the captain Shakib Al Hasan who took a beating.

Coventry, who hadn’t scored an ODI century before, took advantage of the flatness of the wicket and piled up the runs. He accelerated after reaching his 100 while wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Anyways, he would have thought that he had done enough when Zimbabwe put on 312, more than Bangladesh had ever chased before.

But it was not to be. The party was spoiled by a stunning 154 by Tamim Iqbal who fell when the score was already 279, and it was a matter of time before Bangladesh won by 4 wickets to give Zimbabwe one of the biggest upsets in their cricketing history.

Coventry was given the man of the match award.

4. Matthew Hayden 181* vs New Zealand (Chappell-Hadlee trophy, Hamilton, 2007)

This was as brutal an innings as you will ever see. With 11 fours and 10 thwacks of the bat that went for six, Hayden murdered the New Zealand bowlers, staying at the crease for the full duration of the innings and scoring the highest individual score by an Aussie.

The Aussies put up a promising 346 on the board, and would have thought the game was theirs when half the Kiwis were back in the hut with score reading only a 116. What caused the upset was the 165 run-stand between Craig McMillan (117 off 96) and Brendon McCullum (86 off 91) that followed, and the subsequent partnerships that McCullum managed to string together with the tail to get his team over the line with just 3 balls and a wicket remaining.

Hayden scored more than 100 of his runs on the on-side, with some special treatment for Jeetan Patel, who he hit for 5 towering hits between long-off and long-on.

He had to take a runner in the middle of his innings due to a toe injury, but that did not hamper his scoring as he chose to stand in his crease and dispatch the ball to the boundary.

Hayden was clearly playing to show the selectors, who had just given him a place in the squad. But his efforts were in vain at the end as New Zealand were able to get past the target to clinch the series 3-0. Hayden was man of the match.

3. Mahela Jayawardene 103* vs India (ICC World Cup, Mumbai, 2011)

Sri Lanka lost their second consecutive World Cup final as India went on to lift the cup at the Wankhede stadium on April 2, 2011. Mahela scored 103 not out.

Sangakkara tried to get some runs, Malinga did bag two wickets, Muralitharan tried to get Dhoni out; the whole Sri Lankan team chipped in with their efforts. But it just didn’t happen for them. It was simply India’s day.

Mahela took the crease with almost 100 balls having been bowled and the score reading only 60/2. He decided to get his eye in first, dealing only in singles and doubles.

When half the side was out, the score was still below 200 with only about 10 overs left in the innings. That was when he got together with Kulasekara to put together a 66 run-stand off just 49 balls.

Perera walked in after that to score 22 off just 9 deliveries, taking the score to 274. Thus, they managed to score more than 90 runs in the last 10 overs.

Mahela’s knock lasted a total of 88 deliveries and featured 13 fours struck with impeccable timing. This was the first instance when somebody had scored a century in a World Cup final and had ended up on the losing side, as India lifted the trophy after a long wait of 28 years.

Captain Dhoni bagged the man of the match for his scintillating 91 off 79 deliveries.

2. Ponting 164 vs South Africa (Australia in South Africa, Johannesburg, 2006)

This was a match that will find a mention every time great team batting displays will be talked about. This game, in fact, had two of them – the two highest team scores in an ODI ever were both crafted in this single game played at the Wanderers stadium.

Ponting, the captain, led the scoring after coming in to bat at 97/1, when the Aussies were going at almost 6 an over. He was definitely not satisfied with it.

Along with Katich who was playing a steady hand, he built a 2nd wicket stand worth 119 off 93 balls, and proceeded to further accelerate in the next partnership with Hussey that added 150 in almost as many balls.

Even after he got out, Symonds partnered with Brett Lee, and together the Australians put up the highest one day score by any team ever, a total of 434.

The last 10 overs yielded 133 runs, with 72 off them coming off the last 5. No bowler had an economy of below 7. Ponting hit Ntini for 3 and Kallis for 4 sixes, with a majority of them coming over mid-wicket and deep square leg.

He favoured the on-side for scoring his runs, getting more than 100 of them in that region in an innings that lasted just 105 balls.

Nothing could have prepared the world for what was about to happen. Australia would have definitely felt their score was defendable, having scored at more than 8 an over.

Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs had other ideas. Gibbs bettered Ponting’s effort, scoring a thunderous 175 (111 balls, 21×4, 7×6) that really left no options to Australia.

South Africa won with 1 wicket remaining and 1 ball remaining in the innings. Gibbs and Ponting were jointly given man of the match award.

1. Sachin 175 vs Australia (Australia in India, Hyderabad, 2009)

This was a real heartbreak for all the Indians. This gets the top spot because this century came while chasing, a target of 350 set by the Aussies.

Sachin, a single man, scored half the runs in less than half the balls (141). Still, the team could not get over the line, and were all out 3 runs shy of the target with 2 balls left in the innings.

The main culprit was the rest of the team, and still people have the audacity of blaming Sachin for not having led the team all the way. The same goes for the 13 other occasions where Sachin scored a ton and India lost the game. Shouldn’t the other players be blamed for the dismal performance that they must have come up with to end up on the losing side even after they had a Sachin ton to back them? But that is not how it is. People will blame Sachin. For God knows what reason.

Sachin’s was the 7th wicket to fall, and even then India could have won easily, with 19 required off 17. But some callous running between the wickets gave the opposition two wickets, and when Praveen Kumar was run out, it was curtains and Sachin’s century proved to be nothing but an effort in vain.

The trash talkers, who connect India’s losses to Sachin’s centuries (being blissfully unaware of the statistics), got some more masala to talk about, more so this time, as this was Sachin’s highest score in a losing cause.

As expected, Sachin was adjudged man of the match, with the only other good score in the innings coming of Raina’s bat who scored 59 and partnered with Tendulkar in a 137 run-stand for the 5th wicket. Sachin hit 19 fours and 4 sixes in his innings.