Top 5 ODI records that were broken in 2018
Cricket is not the game it once was. It has always undergone constant change. Especially the 20th century saw the game evolve by leaps and bounds. As a consequence of the smaller boundaries, heavier bats and fitter players in the modern-day cricket, the world records are being shattered with ease in the recent times. With batsmen possessing exceptional fitness levels and bowlers adapting to all kinds playing conditions, the achievements of the past seem rather tame.
We are just halfway through 2018 but numerous records have been broken already this year. Let us take a look at top five of such ODI records that have been broken in 2018.
#5 Highest score in a bilateral ODI series - Virat Kohli
The India vs South Africa ODI series at the beginning of the year was a dream series for the India captain, Virat Kohli, who amassed 558 runs at an average of 186 in six innings with the help of three centuries. He became the first-ever batsman to breach the 500 runs barrier in a bilateral ODI series, surpassing his teammate Rohit Sharma’s 491 against Australia in 2014.
The fact that Kohli didn’t have an ODI hundred in South Africa before this tour makes his achievement even more special, as the 29-year-old ended his drought with three tons.
#4 Highest runs conceded by a bowler in an ODI - Cara Murray
Not every time, records justify the greatness of the player or a team but more often than not, they reflect how miserable a day a team or a player has had, and this is one of such records that any cricket player or team would be ashamed to own.
In the very match where New Zealand women's team posted the highest ever ODI total, the Ireland women bowler, Cara Murray, conceded 119 runs in her quote of 10 overs, which were the most by any bowler in ODIs. Incidentally, it was Murray's first ODI. Murray's spell went past New Zealand's Mick Lewis' 113 runs against South Africa at Wanderers in 2006.