ODI cricket is a format where anything can happen at any time and fortunes can change in an instant. There have been some crazy escapes by teams staring at defeat and here are the best escapes in ODI history:
England vs Ireland, 2011 World Cup:
A memorable World Cup for India, the 2011 World Cup was also one that featured one of the greatest heists in the history of the game. How is the fastest century in World Cup history for starters? How about the fact that it was scored by an Irishman, a country considered minnows in the game? Also, they played and won against England – A country they are historically sporting rivals with.
Chasing a massive 327 from England in Bangalore, Ireland were reeling at 111-5. Enter Kevin O’Brien and the luck o’ the Irish. Scoring a century off just 50 balls, he engineered an impossible win for the Irish squad in the highest of platforms.
Australia vs West Indies, 1996:
Paul Reiffel is remembered as a good Australian bowler but one of his most memorable moments came in an all-round performance for them. Playing West Indies at Sydney, Australia managed to curb them to 172 off 43 overs as Reiffel picked for in the match that had been reduced to said number of overs. Carl Hooper played a sensible 93* to bring them there after they were reeling at 54-5.
The Australians came up to bat and were blown away by the bowling attack of the Windies. The only saving grace looked to be Ian Healy’s 36. Coming in at 74-7, Paul Reiffel then proved it was his day as he batted with the ultimate finisher back then, Michael Bevan. He scored 34 before falling but his innings helped Bevan finish off a famous victory.
Watch the video here-> VIDEO
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 1999:
Playing the third game in the Coca-Cola cup, Sri Lanka restricted their sub-continental rivals to 196. The Lankans then replied with a dominating batting performance, getting to 173-2 in 40 overs, thanks to Russell Arnold’s 61.
Sitting firmly in the driver’s seat with just 23 required in 10 overs, this would have been a cake walk. However, Malik got Arnold’s wicket while Akram got the wickets of Jayasuriya and De Silva in quick succession. Reduced to 177-5, the Sri Lankans still just about had the upper hand in the game.
Enter Abdul Razzaq. The Pakistani bowler sent two batsmen back and the target had reduced to 3 runs off 13 balls.
Razzaq once again entered and dismissed Chaminda Vaas leaving the tail to negotiate the last two overs. They managed 2 more runs before Razzaq capped off a dramatic performance by bowling LC Silva in the first ball of the last over. Quite the match, that.
Australia vs England, 2014:
England had put up a good 300 runs on the board, propelled by Eoin Morgan’s 106. Chasing the score, Australia had fallen to 120 for 5 and looked second favourites to win the game. They managed to bring it up to 206 for 7 before Faulkner walked in.
Needing 94 runs in 15 overs, Faulkner hit a few but lost partners at the other end. Australia needed 57 runs in 6 overs with one wicket in hand. Faulkner then decided to take matters into his own hands and thrashed 5 sixes to all parts of the Gabba.
He bought the required rate down to 12 runs off 1 over and faced Bresnan, who was looking to finish the game off for England. Faulkner hit the first ball for four over the keeper for the same result. He then hit two more in succession and won Australia a memorable game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfkfA4-j1Nk
By Rohit Nair
