Top 5 hundreds in ODI chases

In the fourth one-day international between England and New Zealand at Dunedin, Ross Taylor played a magnificent innings of 181* (147 balls) to guide his team to a thrilling victory while chasing a mammoth target of 336. Coming in to bat when the scoreboard read 2/2, the star batsman produced a scintillating display of batting to help his team stay alive in the series.

Even though 300 totals have become a norm in ODI cricket of late, chasing 300 is still tough and tests the character of even the greatest of batsmen. It often requires one batsman in the team to step up and produce a big hundred.

We look at 5 other big hundreds (150+ scores) that were crucial for their team to overhaul huge totals.

#5 Jason Roy 180 (151) vs Australia at Melbourne, 2018

Australia 304/8, England 308/5 in 48.5 overs

First on this list is a recent performance from Jason Roy at MCG. England, after being out-performed in the Ashes, were hoping for some inspiration from their non-Test playing stars to put up an improved performance in the ODI series. And they did find one in Jason Roy that day.

In the first ODI, Australia batted first and scored 304 in their allotted 50 overs, courtesy Aaron Finch’s ton. This was more than a challenging total on a huge Melbourne ground. Jason Roy started the chase briskly and found an able ally in Joe Root. Together they had added 221 runs for the third wicket when Jason Roy was dismissed for a career-best 151-ball 180, the highest for an England player in ODIs.

It was an innings of highest quality against an Aussie bowling line-up consisting of the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. Root guided his team to the finish line with 7 balls left. But Roy was the real hero that day who helped England take a 1-0 lead which eventually propelled them to a 4-1 series win.