Top 5 successful chases in ODI history
We enjoy watching a cricket match when the team batting first scores huge runs and we are sure that the team which batted first is the winner. But the match becomes much more interesting when the other team comes back with a fight and wins the match. Now let’s take a look at the top 5 run chases of all time:
5) India vs West Indies, Ahmedabad 2002
On 15th November Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera witnessed one of the most memorable matches in the cricket history. India won the toss and asked West Indies to bat first. Visitors’ batting was beautifully anchored by their star batsman, Chris Gayle who scored 140 off 127 balls, hitting 12 fours and 5 sixes. He was well supported by Ramnaresh Sarwan (99*) and India were given the target of 325 to level the 7 match series 2-2. Indian openers didn’t trouble the scorers a lot and soon India were forced to 45-2 in 5.3 overs. But Rahul Dravid came to rescue, as he played calmly and kept India in hunt, he built partnerships with Laxman and Yuvraj to take India home with 14 balls remaining as India won the match by 5 wickets.
4) Australia vs South Africa, Port Elizabeth 2002
The 6th match of the 2002 Australia-South Africa series will always be a memorable one. South Africa won the toss and selected to bat. Their batting order played well to put a commanding score of 326, but it wasn’t enough. Australia came back strongly in the match, with Adam Gilchrist playing a short cameo of 52 off just 34 balls to give Aussies a good start. Ponting and Lehmann took the advantage of the wonderful start and together added 183 runs to ensure Aussies a memorable win. Australia won the match by 3 wickets with 5 balls remaining.
3) Australia vs New Zealand, Auckland 2007
The second match of the 2007 Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was a very important match for Australia as they were trailing the 3 match series 1-0. New Zealand won the toss and asked Australia to bat. Australia’s innings was laid by Michael Hussey, who scored 105 of 84 balls and he was supported by Brad Hodge (97*). Australia put up 336 for New Zealand to win the match. New Zealand had a sloppy start with their openers falling cheaply. Their hunt was anchored by Ross Taylor who got 117 off 127 balls. Later PG Fulton (76*) played a blinder at the end to take New Zealand home with 8 balls remaining, and New Zealand won the match by 5 wickets.
2) India vs Pakistan, Mirpur 2012
This match was very important for India if they had to stay in the tournament. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first, with their openers putting 224 for first wicket (M Hafeez- 105, N Jamshed- 112). Pakistan eventually put up a commanding score of 329. India had a very slow start with Gautam Gambhir getting out on zero, but then Virat Kohli came to India’s rescue. He scored a brilliant 183 off 148 balls. He was supported by Rohit Sharma (68) and in the end Dhoni stroked the ball to the boundary to take India home with 13 balls remaining. India won the match by 6 wickets.
1) Australia vs South Africa, Johannesburg 2006
No cricket fan can ever forget this match. It was equally important for both teams as this was the deciding match of the series. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Ricky Ponting was the star for the Australia team, as he scored his fastest ODI ton. He scored 164 off 105 balls to take Australia’s score to 434. South Africa’s start was fired by captain GC Smith who scored 90 off 55 balls. Gibbs was the star for Proteas as he scored quick 175 off 111 balls to keep South Africa in the hunt. Later, Mark Boucher played some beautiful strokes at the end to take South Africa home with 1 ball remaining. South Africa won the match by 1 wicket.