Top-5 innings by Mohammad Kaif

#4. 102 not out (121 balls) vs New Zealand, Videocon Tri-series, Harare, 2 April 2005.

Mohammad Kaif

succesfully

attempting a sweep shot en-route his ton

Zimbabwean pitches have always been seen as unpredictable. Still, the Kiwis emerged as strong favorites ahead of the first clash between Indians and them in the tri-series of 2005. Scott Styris, Stephen Fleming, Craig Macmillan, and Lou Vincent ensured the fact with substantial knocks, with the innings eventually concluding at 278/9, which was a decent score at Harare.

However, the innings that followed showed the Indians pulling off a remarkable heist, as Sehwag, Dravid, Dhoni and Yuvraj all contributed nicely to the chase. The best of it all came from Kaif, who came in at 66/1 and saw to it the match ended successfully, staying at the crease till the very end.

Kaif scored his second and last ODI hundred till date on that day, finishing with 102 off 111 balls, including 11 fours. With wickets falling on the other, Kaif securing his end meant that India had a pillar of strength around which the chase progressed.

The knock gave Kaif his fourth Man-of-the-match award as the final Indian score read 279/4.