Top 5 upsets in ODI history

Barely a week ago, an inspired group of eleven under the unassuming leadership of the scarcely known Elton Chigumbura handed the mighty Australians a severe jolt in their preparations for the 2015 World Cup as they completed a memorable victory against the Baggy Greens. This victory may not be as historically profound as the one in 1983 when Duncan Fletcher, the present India coach, motivated a band of Zimbabwean debutants to a 3-wicket win in the country’s very first One Day International - their only other victory against Australia in ODIs, but a triumph after 31 years of toil is indeed special. More so for off-spinner Prosper Utseya, who had achieved a personal milestone by completing a hat-trick in the previous match before pairing up here with the skipper to weave an unperturbed 55-run partnership to see his team through.While this match certainly had all the ingredients to go down in the annals of history as one the greatest upsets ever, let us have a look at five other matches that belied expectations and defied logic, courtesy dedicated performances by whom they call ‘minnows’.

#5 Kenya defeated West Indies by 73 runs, World Cup 1996

Maurice Odumbe

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The question over Kenya versus West Indies match in Pune back in 1996 was a no-brainer. Kenya stood no chance against a line-up that boasted of Sherwin Campbell, Richie Richardson, Brian Lara, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop. Yet the unexpected did happen, and Kenya went on to defeat their invincible opponents by a clean 73 runs.

Maurice Odumbe, the Kenyan skipper who would orchestrate a stunning victory over India two years hence, smashing the Indian spinners out of sight at Gwalior, failed with the bat as Kenya yielded to the incisive spells of the Caribbean pacers. 37 extras were conceded as Kenya managed to put 166 on the board before the last man edged it to the ‘keeper.

Martin Suji and Rajab Ali then feasted on the openers as West Indies found themselves tottering at 35/4 after the dismissal of Keith Arthurton. The Kenya skipper unleashed his choking off-spin, thereby mounting the pressure and forcing mistakes.

West Indies never really recovered as they bundled out for 93 with only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Roger Harper managing double figures. Odumbe was declared the deserving Man-of-the-Match for his efforts of 10-3-15-3.

#4 Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by 62 runs, World Cup 1999

Khaled Mahmud

The pace trio of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar, surprisingly, lost their potency against a team that had previously never triumphed over a Test-playing nation, in an insignificant World Cup group stage encounter at Northampton.

Instead of crumbling right from the start, the Bangladesh openers put up a gritty 69 before Mehrab Hossain was outfoxed by Saqlain Mushtaq. Akram Khan and, later, Khaled Mahmud steadied the ship as Bangladesh cruised to a decent 223/9 at the end of their 50 overs.

In reply, Pakistan’s top five of Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saleem Malik returned for single-digit scores as Mahmud seemed eager to salvage an unlikely and unforeseen win against the formidable Pakistanis. Azhar Mahmood and Akram stayed together in the middle for 55 runs, but the target appeared too lofty to be conquered.

Once Mahmood was run out by the Bangladesh ‘keeper, Pakistan failed to put up with the required run-rate and ended up losing wickets as they tried to accelerate. They folded up for 161, with Mahmud returning figures of 3/31. It was a historic victory, not only because it was the first against a Test-playing nation but also because it introduced Bangladesh in the international arena and paved the way for subsequent upsets in future.

#3 Zimbabwe defeated England by 9 runs, World Cup 1992

Eddo Brandes

England encountered Zimbabwe in a league game at Albury that mattered little with respect to progressing to the next stage. Meaningless, although it might have been, this match provided a major setback to England in the process of going down as a severe upset in cricketing history.

At the halfway stage, there appeared nothing unusual as Zimbabwe had been wrapped up for a meager score of 134, thanks to the exploits of Ray Illingworth and Ian Botham. But Eddo Brandes, a little known swing bowler from Zimbabwe, wrecked havoc as the English top order surrendered to the moving ball.

At 43/5, Alec Stewart joined hands with Fairbrother to stitch a 52-run partnership before the former fell to Omarshah with the scoreboard reading 95/6. The low-order resistance proved insufficient for the English as Jarvis hammered in the last nail in the coffin with 5 balls remaining, thereby scripting a historic triumph against Graham Gooch’s lions.

#2 India defeated West Indies by 43 runs, World Cup final 1983

Kapil Dev

It was only a matter of formalities before the defending champions West Indies could complete a clean sweep at the World Cup final for the third consecutive time. The plan indeed looked flawless, and the result was within sight by the time the Indian batsmen ended up at a collective score of 183 after 54.4 overs.

It was down to the famed batting order of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd to capitalize on the platform already provided by Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. Kapil Dev’s army, however, had other plans as they harvested on the complacency of the West Indian line-up with some resolute fielding and accurate seam bowling.

The entire world was left stunned as only four West Indies batsmen were allowed to enter double figures in their total of 140. Mohinder Amarnath returned with figures of 7-0-12-3 and salvaged a victory that was not merely daunting but almost impossible. After all, very few passionate optimists had expected India to progress past the group stages.

#1 Bangladesh defeated Australia by 5 wickets, Natwest Series 2005

Mohammad Ashraful

Nine wins out of 107 ODIs isn’t an encouraging record when you are facing a power-packed Australian XI that had the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke. Neither does a target of 250 look achievable against the trio of Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath and Michael Kasprowicz in swinging conditions at Cardiff.

However, Javed Omar and Tushar Imran struggled to 72/3 from 20.5 overs before Mohammed Ashraful walked out into the middle. Skipper Habibul Bashar held the other end as Ashraful sent Brad Hogg and Michael Clarke all around the park en route to a sensational run-a-ball century.

A 13-ball cameo by Aftab Ahmed sealed a breathtaking victory for the Bangladeshis and restored pride after they had been pummeled by England in the first game. As Bangladesh earned the world’s respect by toppling the hitherto undefeatable World Champions, Ricky Ponting realized that he now had on-field issues to sort out in addition to off-field ones.