5 biggest margins of victory in ODI cricket
Ever since their inception in 1971, ODIs have become one of the most popular formats of cricket. Over the years, the ODI format has featured many great players who have set and broken numerous records. One such record is the margin of victory in terms of the number of runs.
From 1 run to 200, the ODI format has witnessed it all and this article has been written to elucidate the five biggest margin of victories in ODI cricket.
Also read: 10 biggest innings defeats in Test cricket
#5 257 runs – India vs Bermuda, South Africa vs West Indies
Two of cricket’s powerhouses registered wins by 257 runs and both teams achieved this at a World Cup. India were the first team to register a win by this margin and they did this against Bermuda at Port of Spain during the 2007 World Cup.
After losing their tournament opener to Bangladesh, India needed to defeat Bermuda in order to stay in the tournament. However, they were off to a horrible start after Robin Uthappa was dismissed for 3 in the second over courtesy a brilliant catch taken by Dwayne Leverock. The Indian batting received some impetus from a 202-run partnership between Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly. Sehwag got to his first ever World Cup century before being dismissed by Kevin Hurdle.
After Ganguly’s dismissal for 89, Yuvraj Singh along with Sachin Tendulkar added 122 from just 62 deliveries before the former was dismissed for a 46-ball 83. India ended their innings on 413/5 with Tendulkar reaching his half-century and finishing with 57 from 29 deliveries.
In reply, Bermuda got nowhere close to India’s target despite David Hemp’s valiant, unbeaten 76. India bowled out the minnows for just 156, the only time Bermuda crossed 100 in the entire tournament.
India’s win by 257 runs was at the time the largest margin of victory in an ODI match, bettering Australia’s 256-run win over Namibia at the 2003 World Cup at Potchefstroom. India’s score of 413/5 was also the then-highest score in Cricket World Cup history, bettering Sri Lanka’s 398/5 against Kenya at Kandy during the 1996 World Cup.
South Africa, meanwhile, registered their 257-run against West Indies in Sydney at the 2015 World Cup. Batting first, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis scored half-centuries to put South Africa in a good position before AB de Villiers bashed the Windies bowlers en route to his 162 off just 66 deliveries as South Africa ended their innings on 408/5.
In reply, the entire West Indies team failed to even score as many runs as ABD as they were skittled out for 151 with Jason Holder top-scoring with 56.