West Indies vs England 2019: Where does England's win in the 1st ODI rank among the highest ever ODI run chases?

England achieved the feat of chasing down the third highest target in ODI history in the first match against West Indies played at Bridgetown, Barbados on Wednesday.

West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss and decided to bat first. A great batting display by the hosts thanks to Chris Gayle 135, Shai Hope's 64, Darren Bravo's quickfire 40 and Ashely Nurse's 25 helped the hosts post a massive target of 360 for 8 in 50 overs.

For any other team this would have been a nightmare to chase down. But England are not just any team.

The opening pair of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow gave the team a flying start by adding 91 runs for the opening wicket in just 10.5 overs. After that, Roy continued to pile up the pressure on the West Indies bowling with some sensational hitting, reaching his century off just 65 balls.

Roy made 123 runs which gave England a solid foundation for the win.

After Roy fell, England captain Eoin Morgan came to the crease and continued to thrash the West Indies bowling and scored 65 runs. Joe Root also reached his century, accumulating a total of 102, which helped the number 1 ranked ODI side win the first match by 6 wickets with 8 balls to spare.

England have been in superb form since their first-round exit in the 2015 World Cup. The way they are performing now, they look like favorites for winning the prestigious tournament to be held in their home country from 30th May 2019.

South Africa hold the record of the highest successful run chase in ODI history. They chased a massive target of 435 runs at Johannesburg on 12th March 2006, in what is widely regarded as the greatest ODI match of all time.

Thanks to Ricky Ponting's 164, Mike Hussey's 81 not out, Adam Gilchrist's 55 and Simon Katich's 79, Australia posted 434 for 4 in their 50 overs. In reply, Herschelle Gibbs produced a magical innings of 175 runs, Mark Boucher added 50 runs while remaining not out and several contributions from all the other batsmen enabled South Africa to achieve the impossible target with 1 wicket to spare.

It was again South Africa who chased down a massive target of 372 runs against Australia at Durban on 5th October 2016. Australia batted first, and David Warner (117) and Steve Smith (108) both scored centuries. Among the others, Aaron Finch contributed 53 runs to help the visitors post 371 for 6 in 50 overs.

Chasing the target of 372, David Miller’s magical knock of 118 off 79 balls, supported by Quinton de Kock’s 70, Hashim Amla's 45 and Phehlukwayo's 42 not out helped the hosts get to the finish line with 4 wickets and 4 balls to spare.