5 long-standing records in One Day International cricket

Modified Mar 26, 2020 18:30 IST

A One Day International match between India (blue) and Australia.

Relatively a modern format of the game compared to Test matches, over 4000 one-day internationals (ODIs) by 24 different nations have been played since the first match was played in Melbourne between Australia and England in 1971.

India (987), Australia (972), and Pakistan (927) have played the most ODIs by any team while Australia (575) and India (514) are the only two teams to win over 500 matches.

Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar has played the most matches (453), scored the most runs (18426), the most hundreds (49), and the most fifties (96) by any player while Muttiah Muralitharan (534) and Wasim Akram (502) are the only players to take over 500 ODI wickets.

On that note, let us have a look at 5 of the longest-standing records in the format.

#5 6 sixes off 6 balls in an over (Herschelle Gibbs in 2003): 13 years

Herschelle Gibbs is the only player to hit 6 sixes off 6 balls in a 6-ball over in ODIs

South African opener Herschelle Gibbs is the first and only player to hit 6 sixes off 6 balls in ODIs - in a group-stage game between South Africa and the Netherlands in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. The hapless bowler was Dutch leg-spinner, Daan van Bunge.

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Gibbs launched van Bunge’s first delivery of the 30th over high over long-on and followed with two further strikes over long-off, one over mid-wicket, and then a pair of maximums over long-off. It is the most runs scored off a bowler in a six-ball over in ODIs.

#4 21 consecutive wins (Australia in 2003): 17 years

The all-conquering Australian ODI team of the early 2000s began their record-run with a win over England in Hobart in January 2003, kick-starting a run of 6 consecutive wins in the VB series which also featured Sri Lanka.

Their bandwagon then rolled on to the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where the defending champions won all their 11 games to successfully defend their title before winning the first four ODIs in their away series against the West Indies.

#3 20 consecutive losses (Bangladesh in 2002): 18 years

Bangladesh hold the ignominy of losing at least 20 consecutive ODI games on not one but multiple occasions. After losing 22 consecutive games between 1986 and 1998, the Tigers lost 23 in a row after beating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup. The record losing streak would last three years from October 1999 to October 2002.

The 23-match losing streak only ended because of a no-result, following which Bangladesh lost 4 games, followed by a no-result, before another losing streak of 18 followed.

If the two no-results are not considered, Bangladesh's losing streak would comprise 45 consecutive defeats in as many completed matches, making it the worst losing streak by any country in ODI history.

#2 8 wickets in a match by a player (Chaminda Vaas in 2001): 19 years

Sri Lankan left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas is the only bowler in ODI history to take 8 wickets in an ODI. In a match against Zimbabwe in Colombo in 2001, Vaas produced the best-ever ODI figures of 8/19 which included a hat-trick in his sixth over as the visitors were skittled for 38.

It was the most prolific spell by a bowler in List A cricket till Shahbaz Nadeem's 8/10 for Jharkhand against Rajasthan in 2018-19 bettered it. Nevertheless, Vaas' feat has not been emulated or surpassed by any bowler in one-day internationals.

#1 100 consecutive innings without being dismissed for a duck (Kepler Wessels): 26 years

Kepler Wessels is the only player in ODI history to have played over 100 consecutive innings without being dismissed for a duck. In fact, in a career spanning 109 games and 11 years (1983 to 1994), the left-handed opening batsman was never dismissed without troubling the scorers.

Wessels is the first player to represent two countries in ODIs, featuring in 54 matches for Australia from 1983 to 1985 before turning out for his native country South Africa 6 years later, playing in a further 55 matches from 1991 to 1994.