ODI Cricket: Top 10 greatest batting streaks

#5 Michael Bevan (Australia): 1995-1997

Matches: 78, Runs: 2636, Averge: 64.3, Highest: 108*, 100/50: 3/19, Strike-Rate: 76.

Michael Bevan is a name that often invokes polarizing reactions from people.There is often talk about how Bevan had a lower strike-rate than the modern day heroes and various other things. What people don't realize is that Bevan's job was to drag Australia from a hole and he was very efficient at it.

He hardly batted in the top 3, and yet averaged in the high 50s. It is not the not outs that inflate the numbers but his unnerving consistency in winning matches for his team. Before the rise of Ponting, Gilchrist and the like, Australia was overtly dependent on their bowling and Bevan who would carry them to a reasonable total or pull out an improbable chase.

Bevan hardly went through a lull in ODI cricket, but was at this absolute best between 1997-1999. He averaged above 50 for three straight years, and was easily the most important Odi batsmen in the world. Bevan played 78 matches during this period, and scored 2636 runs at an average of 64. It included 3 hundreds and 14 half-centuries. More importantly, he was dismissed for under a double digit score only 7 times.

Bevan was an underrated hero at the 1999 World Cup where he scored 286 runs at an average of 52. His 65 in the semi-finals against South Africa was a team saving performance if there ever was one.

His reputation of being a finisher was not earned within a day but this might be the one innings that sealed the deal. Bevan ushered a new era of Australian domination in ODI cricket. While he was not the forefront of it grabbing all the media attention, he was far and away the most vital cog of that team.