5 greatest run chases in ODI history
The fourth ODI between England and West Indies produced an exhilarating contest where West Indies fell tantalizingly short of chasing down England’s score of 418. In fact, the way the West Indians batted, they made the target look easy to conquer for a large part of their innings. It was only a stout resistance from the English team in the latter stages that protected them from a surprising loss.
After having witnessed this splendid contest, let’s recount some of the greatest run-chases in the history of the game. We have to keep in mind that chasing big targets, just like posting big totals, has become much easier in recent times.
While 300 was a winning score couple of decades ago, it now looks very vulnerable. Hence, while compiling this list, it is important to not just look at the runs scored but also the era in which they were scored.
The quality of attack, circumstances, conditions, all come into play when preparing this list. So, let’s look back at the 5 best successful run-chases in the history of ODI cricket.
5. India Chasing Down 326 vs England (Lord’s, 2002)
The stage was big – final of a triangular series involving the hosts England, India and Sri Lanka, played at Lords. The hosts were taking on India at the most hallowed ground in international cricket.
The visitors conceded a score of 325 in the first innings, thanks to tons from Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain. Now, remember that this was 2002. A score of 300 in those days was almost guaranteed to bring victory.
However, the Indians got off to a spirited start in their reply with openers Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag playing aggressively in the first 15 overs.
However, the surge of optimism among Indian fans came crashing down when a flurry of wickets – including that of Sachin Tendulkar – reduced their team to 146/5. The last recognized batting pair was at the crease – Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.
These two young batsmen were still in the process of finding their feet in international cricket. The required run-rate was around 6/over.
Then, what was witnessed was a turnaround that even the most optimistic Indian fan would not have imagined. Kaif and Yuvraj mounted a brilliant partnership which added 121 runs for the sixth wicket. Then the latter was dismissed for a personal score of 69 of 63 when his team still needed 59 off 50 balls.
However, Kaif shepherded the innings along with the tail-enders to get his team through to a memorable victory with three balls to spare. Every Indian fan remembers the celebration of Ganguly when he took off his shirt and swirled it around over his head. But it was the brilliance of two young, inexperienced Indian batsmen that deserves to be most fondly recalled.