Top 5 ODI innings of 2019

2019 was a big year for ODI cricket. The ICC Cricket World Cup was played this year, and it saw some stupendous performances with the bat. But great batting wasn’t limited to the tournament alone; there were other great performances too throughout the season, from both established and emerging batsmen.

What made the 2019 World Cup unique was the fact that it was played on some sporting wickets, as opposed to the flat tracks many expected. This made the task of scoring runs tougher for the batsmen, and hence saw players of the highest quality rise to the top.

When making a list of the five best innings of 2019, one must be careful to analyse ODI innings in their entirety. Just the number of runs scored isn’t enough to make a knock superior. Similarly, the idea of a great ODI innings shouldn’t be limited to those which are explosive and full of fours and sixes.

With that in mind, let’s count down to the five finest knocks by batsmen this year in 50-over cricket.

5. Ashton Turner (84* off 43 vs India, Mohali)

Ashton Turner blitzed his team to victory against India

The five-match series between India and Australia saw an amazing comeback by the visiting team. They fought back from a position where they were 0-2 down and looking set to lose a third match, to eventually winning the series.

A large part in this turnaround was played by an unheralded Ashton Turner.

In the fourth match of the series, India had set a massive target of 359 for Australia to chase. When the Aaron Finch-led team lost their most capable big-hitter Glenn Maxwell, they were 229/4 and needed 130 runs to win in 83 deliveries.

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That’s when Turner turned the game in his team’s favour.

He was up against arguably the best ODI bowling attack in the world – Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. But the 26-year old made them look like an associate nation’s bowling line-up as he walloped them for 5 fours and 6 sixes. Even the master of the death overs, Bumrah, couldn’t stop the onslaught.

Australia ended up winning with as many as 13 balls remaining. It was an innings that left the Indian fans gobsmacked and their team scratching their heads as to what had hit them.

4. Shimron Hetmyer (139* off 106 vs India, Chennai)

Shimron Hetmyer showed his great class against India at Chennai

The massive talent that Shimron Hetmyer possesses is well-known to everyone. However, too often in his career, Hetmyer has been guilty of impetuosity and not restraining his aggression.

This innings, however, could signal the maturing of a future great.

Playing against India in India, and chasing a target of 288, is not easy even in the modern age of flat pitches. Moreover, West Indies didn’t benefit from the dew factor that was supposed to play a big part, as the conditions remained dry.

But Hetmyer played like a man determined to complete his mission.

He allowed his partner Shai Hope to completely drop anchor and score at a leisurely pace. At the other end, Hetmyer went after the Indian bowlers, especially the spinners who were the biggest threats, and attacked them with some of those mighty hits that he has become known for.

But what differentiated this innings from the rest was the fact that he didn’t get carried away, and kept his eye on the target.

With the help of 11 fours and 7 sixes, Hetmyer racked up a score of 139 and ensured his team would end up winning the match.

3. Kane Williamson (106* off 138 vs South Africa, Birmingham)

Kane Williamson took his team to victory in a last-over finish

This innings is special because it wasn’t played on a featherbed; instead, it emerged in a low-scoring match by today’s standards. Chasing a target of 242 is easy these days but not this time, as the South African bowlers produced a good performance and reduced the Kiwis to 137/5.

But Kane Williamson, who oozes class and calmness, kept soldiering on and kept the Proteas from running away with the game. The required run-rate was also not allowed to go out of control, and yet the match still ended up going right down to the wire.

With seven balls remaining, New Zealand needed 12 runs to win the match, and anything was possible. Then on the last ball of the penultimate over, Williamson, by his own admission, tried to guide the ball towards third man for a single to retain the strike. But he ended up playing the ball too fine and it went for a boundary.

With 8 runs needed off the final over, Mitchell Santner took a single to hand over the strike to Williamson. The captain then went down on one knee and smashed the ball over the leg side for six.

The scores were level and the New Zealand captain had reached his hundred. He finished off the game with another four to wrap up a great knock. It was a truly classic innings by the champion batsman.

2. Carlos Brathwaite (101 off 82 vs New Zealand, Manchester)

Carlos Brathwaite fell just short of sealing a miraculous win against New Zealand

Remember the name!

Most people did remember him for his exploits in the 2016 World T20 Final in Kolkata, but Carlos Brathwaite hadn’t done anything of note since then. As it to remind everyone of what he was capable, the tall all-rounder produced another stunning display of great hitting this year.

In the World Cup match against New Zealand, the West Indies team got off to a great start in their pursuit of a target of 292; they were 142/2 in just 22 overs. However, the old West Indian problem of not playing sensibly re-emerged, and led to the side getting reduced to 164/7.

But Brathwaite decided to not give up. Without going overboard, he kept his team in the hunt with some of those blistering strokes he is known for. As the match came down to the last few overs, the New Zealand fielders started fretting as the boundaries from Brathwaite kept narrowing the gulf between the two teams’ scores.

Soon Brathwaite reached his hundred, and his team was one big hit away from securing the most incredible win. Ian Bishop, the same guy who had pronounced those memorable words in 2016, was on air and was speaking with great fervor, anticipating another miracle.

On the last ball of the penultimate over, Brathwaite went for another big hit, looking to finish the match. Everyone held their breath.

Unfortunately for him, the ball ended up in the hands of Trent Boult just inside the ropes. As Ian Bishop said: “The dream is over, you are in Manchester.”

It was a heartbreak of epic proportions, but also an innings that will be hard to forget.

1. Ben Stokes (84* off 98 vs New Zealand, Lord’s)

Ben Stokes played a brilliant innings on the biggest stage of cricket

Most people still remember the World Cup final for its thrilling finish and the supposed unfairness of the rules that denied New Zealand the trophy. However, most people forget what happened before the match ended in a tie.

The very reason England managed to take the game into the super over was a magnificent innings by Ben Stokes.

Chasing a modest-looking target of 242, England seemed in all sorts of trouble at 86/4. Imagine the pressure on the two batsmen at the crease at that moment, Stokes and Jos Buttler. They were being tested by a brilliant Kiwi bowling attack that kept increasing the pressure of the required run-rate on England.

When Buttler was dismissed for 59, England still needed 46 runs off 31 deliveries. But Stokes soldiered on.

Yes, he did benefit from the lucky break of a throw from the deep that deflected off his bat and went to the boundary. But that only mattered because the great all-rounder had brought his team tantalizingly close to winning the match.

The fact that this innings was played when the stakes were as high as they can be in cricket, and against a top-class bowling attack, and when his team were in trouble, makes it one of the greatest innings in World Cup history.

The way Stokes managed to suck up all the pressure and take his team to the title makes this, undoubtedly, the best knock of the year.