Top 4 all-round performances in ODI cricket history
In the 47 year history of ODI cricket (including both Men's and Women's ODIs), there have only been 4 instances of players scoring a 100 and taking 5 wickets in a match. Until yesterday - 12 June, 2018, this elite list included only 3 men and no women. But 17-year-old Amelia Kerr from the New Zealand Women's cricket team went a step ahead and broke all records when she scored an unbeaten swashbuckling 232* off just 145 balls and picked up 5 wickets for just 17 runs! Not only did she break into this exclusive male bastion, with this remarkable performance, Kerr has ensured that her name features right at the top as the greatest individual all-round performance in an ODI game.
During the course of her record-breaking knock, not only did Amelia Kerr become the youngest international double centurion in ODIs, she also entered an elite list of 7 players who have scored a double hundred in ODIs, featuring 6 men: Sachin Tendulkar (200*) from India; Virender Sehwag (219) from India; Rohit Sharma (264, 209 & 208*) from India; Chris Gayle (215) from West Indies; Martin Guptill (237*) from New Zealand; and only 1 woman: Belinda Clark (229*) from Australia.
Women have been known to break barriers all the time and it's a shame and an absolute pity that this amazing feat by Amelia Kerr hasn't found the widespread media coverage and recognition from cricketing fans across the globe that it truly deserves.
With the stock of Women's cricket rising by the day, there is hope that things will change soon; but for now, let's have a quick look at the top 4 brilliant individual all-round performances in the history of ODI cricket ever.
#4 Sir Vivian Richards, West Indies (119; 5/41 vs New Zealand in 1987)
One of the most destructive and feared batsman of all-time and arguably the greatest ODI batsman that the game has seen, Sir Vivian Richards became the first player ever to score a hundred and pick up 5 wickets in an ODI match.
Having lost the toss and being put in to bat first, captain Viv Richards came in to bat at No.5 and went on to score 119 off just 113 balls thereby helping West Indies post a competitive total of 237 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their allotted 50 overs against New Zealand on 18 March 1987. In reply, the Kiwis were bowled out for a paltry 142 runs in 42.1 overs with Sir Viv Richards picking up 5 wickets for 41 runs in his full quota of 10 overs with his mixed bag of slow-medium and off-breaks.
At the time, Sir Viv Richards was the only player to score a century and take 5 wickets in an ODI and his record stood for 18 years until Paul Collingwood joined him in this elite list.