Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Bevan star in Australia’s greatest ever one-day knocks
FROM last-ball brilliance to World Cup winners, captain’s knocks and breakthrough performances — here’s the top ten one-day innings in Australian history.
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FROM Ponting to Bevan, Waugh to Warner, Australia’s produced some truly spectacular batsmen in the one-day era.
Fans around the world remember where they were for Adam Gilchrist’s matchwinning century in the 2007 World Cup — and that’s the sort of quality it took to crack this top ten.
We’ve got captain’s knocks, last-ball brilliance and even one inspired by a squash ball: it’s Australia’s best ever ODI innings rated on quality, popularity, explosiveness and a just a dash of personal bias.
Steve Waugh’s “You just dropped the World Cup”
It’s the greatest sledge that was never said. But whatever version of Steve Waugh’s quip history chooses to remember, Herschelle Gibbs would rather forget all of them.
The famous incarnation of Waugh’s sledge — which has been solidified in cricket’s version of the bible, the Wisden Almanack — set in motion the most incredible events in ODI history.
As the Aussie captain walked to the Headingley crease with his team reeling at 3-48 chasing 271, it was win or bust for Australia in the final match of the Super Six stage of the 1999 World Cup in England — and Gibbs let him know it.
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Waugh had questioned South Africa’s ability to perform under pressure and the fiery South African tried to turn the tables, saying “Let’s see how he takes the pressure now”.
With Waugh rebuilding Australia’s chase with future skipper Ricky Ponting, a lapse in concentration on 56 had Australia holding its collective breath.
Waugh spooned a regulation catch to mid-wicket where Gibbs, in the motion of throwing the ball up in celebration, “dropped the World Cup”.
And suddenly it was Waugh’s turn to return the sledging favour, which has since ingrained itself in cricket folklore.
The skipper would go onto score 120 from 110 balls and guide Australia to victory with two balls to spare.
The teams would meet four days later in what is widely regarded as the greatest World Cup game — or choke depending on who you barracked for — in history.
Michael Bevan’s 78 not out v West Indies 1 Jan 1996
The official crowd at the SCG this night was 37562, but that has got to be a couple of hundred thousand short — because now everyone in Australia seems to know someone who was there to watch a God in mortal form do what he was put on this earth to do: win cricket matches from impossible scenarios.
Michael Bevan’s final-ball four at the SCG against the West Indies is so emotional even Chappelli has been seen to shed a solitary tear over YouTube re-runs of the moment that can’t even be made better with Titanic music.
The legendary finisher was in fine touch having not been dismissed in Australia’s three previous matches but even the biggest optimists thought Bevan’s entrance at 6-38 chasing 172 in the rain-affected match was a bridge too far.
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With Australia’s top order contributing a combined 32 runs off the bat, Bevan — who had been dropped from the Test and ODI sides the previous year — slapped five boundaries and worked the ball like a surgeon through the field, turning ones into twos and twos into threes to give Australia a sniff of victory in the final over.
With Roger Harper spearing in doorknobs and every West Indies player on the boundary, back over the bowler’s head was Bevan’s only option: “It’s down the ground, it’s four. That’s victory for Australia. What an effort, what a stroke. It’s Michael Bevan’s evening at the Sydney Cricket Ground.”
Thanks for the call, Bill.
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Dean Jones 145 v England in 1990
Is there anything better than watching Dean Jones in a wide brim pulling Phil DeFreitas onto the old Gabba dog track on his way to Australia’s then-highest ODI total? Didn’t think so.
Jones’ career will forever be defined by his vomit-inducing double century during the famous Tied Test against India in Chennai, but it was the limited overs arena where Deano did his best work and his 145 Gabba knock against the Old Enemy is as good as it gets.
Striking the cherry at over 100, Jones set about hitting England’s bowlers out of the attack. The speed demon hardly called on his legendary ability to heap pressure on the fielding side through his perfect judge of a single or two, instead opting to take on the substantial Gabba boundary.
The Brisbane crowd roared with delight as 12 fours and four sixes crashed into or over the fence. His cavalier approach to shot-making was highlighted by a one-handed six that landed 12 rows over the fine-leg boundary.
It was an innings of pure class and reminds us why Jones is one of the first picked in the all-time Australian ODI side.
Ricky Ponting’s 164 v South Africa, Mar 12, 2006
It’s the most bittersweet century in cricket.
One so special only the Devil — or Herschelle Gibbs — would relish seeing it consigned to the wrong side of history.
Twelve years ago, Ricky Ponting laced up the gloves and delivered 15 brutal rounds to Australia’s favourite punching bag, South Africa.
Described then as the greatest ODI innings ever played, Ponting’s contempt for the Proteas’ attack blasted Australia to a record 4-434 off 50 overs — a mark sadly relegated just three hours later.
The Australian captain, with support from Adam Gilchrist, Simon Katich and Mike Hussey, was in rare air at The Wanderers, unleashing his full arsenal of hooks, pulls, leg-side flicks and off-side drives.
Then there was the one-knee slog sweep for six off Jacques Kallis. And the maximum that disappeared back over Makhaya Ntini’s head into the Jo’burg crowd. Highlights within a highlights package.
Unfortunately Ponting was powerless in the field as Gibbs and South Africa produced one of the great counter-strikes in sport.
And while Wisden will note a famous victory for South Africa, history will always remember Punter’s knock.
NOTE: the great man’s 2003 World Cup ton ain’t bad either.
Simon O’Donnell’s 18-ball half century against Sri Lanka
If Sir Viv Richards was the original master blaster, an unassuming Aussie all-rounder took the West Indies legend’s moniker for one glorious day in Sharjah against Sri Lanka.
In 1990 Simon O’Donnell raised the bar for what was humanly possible with willow in hand. A bowling all-rounder who emerged during Australia’s breakthrough 1987 limited overs World Cup triumph, O’Donnell was given a licence to thrill by captain Allan Border in the second semi-final of the Austral-Asia Cup — and thrill he did.
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Promoted up the order with Australia cruising at 2-172, O’Donnell, with his captain’s words ringing in his ears, was more executioner than cricketer as he bludgeoned the fastest ODI half century ever — a record which stood for 11 years.
Before O’Donnell’s innings came to an end on 74, the towering unit smacked four boundaries and six sixes — two of which ended on the stadium’s roof.
Only four players in history have bettered O’Donnell’s 18-ball mark: AB de Villiers, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kusal Perera and Martin Guptill.
Andrew Symonds 143 v Pakistan at the 2003 World Cup
With just two half centuries from 55 ODIs for Australia, Andrew Symonds was desperate to break the shackles and unleash the smouldering, unadulterated talent bubbling under the surface of his imposing frame.
When that day came — thanks to Ricky Ponting’s patience — the cricket world took notice.
As Australia struggled to counter an attack boasting Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, the towering Queenslander put his all-star teammates to shame, burgeoning Pakistan’s awesome foursome to the Johannesburg boundary on 18 occasions.
The innings was typical Roy — had a bit of everything; a square-up to Waqar after a couple of beamers, four fours off a single “Boom Boom” over and a near play-on on 23 that surely would have changed the result.
The importance of the innings cannot be understated as it set in motion one of the greatest winning streaks in cricket, with Australia going undefeated in consecutive World Cups.
Oh, and Roy’s out-field screamer off the great Ian Harvey in the second innings was a tasty dessert to the main event.
Adam Gilchrist 149 off 104 in the 2007 World Cup
Want to bat like Adam Gilchrist? Just shove a squash ball in your glove. It’s the simple piece of sporting kit that delivered Australia a hat-trick of World Cup crowns and one of the most memorable tons in the tournament’s history.
Gilchrist’s long-time batting coach Bob Meuleman suggested his charge shove the little rubber ball into his left glove to counter his unusually high bat grip.
“It is to stop his bat turning in his hand,” Meuleman said.
“The squash ball is a great big lump in your glove but it means that you can only use your bottom hand in a V. It is hard to get around the back of the bat with it, which means he improves his grip.
“He had a few hits before he went off for the World Cup. He didn’t have the squash ball in and he hit them like he couldn’t even play fourth grade. He put it in and he then hit the ball so well.”
What followed post ball-in-glove was special even by Gilly’s standards. The greatest ever wicketkeeper-batsman carted 13 boundaries and eight maximums, striking at over 140 to blast Sri Lanka out of the match in the first innings.
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Geoff Marsh 110 v India, first game of the 1987 World Cup
Australia’s one-run win over India at the 1987 tournament sits comfortably in the pantheon of classic World Cup matches and it was a knock from one the country’s most underrated short-form batsman that captured the headlines. After being sent in by India, opener Geoff Marsh (110 off 141) combined with David Boon, Dean Jones and Allan Border to anchor Australia’s innings and set the hosts 271 for victory. On their home deck in Chennai, India’s batsmen were cruising toward Australia’s total until a blitz from quick Craig McDermott and two consecutive run outs sealed the famous victory. But it was Marsh’s knock at the top of the order that pundits rightly hailed as the matchwinning effort and one that set Australia on a path to dominance and a maiden World Cup crown.
Dave Warner announces himself to the world
David Warner made his ODI debut for Australia seven days after announcing himself to the cricket world in the T20 arena with a swashbuckling 89 against South Africa. The talk was Australia had found its next great opener after the retirements of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. But Warner’s explosive start to his T20 career failed to transfer into the longer white-ball format, with the Raging Bull or, ahhhh, Reverend, scoring just three 50s in his first 18 ODI matches.
However, Warner’s 19th game would launch one of Australia’s great ODI careers. Sri Lanka was on the receiving end at the Gabba, with Warner waking from his international slumber, slapping a baker’s dozen of boundaries and a couple of sixes on his way to 163 off 157 balls. Fingers crossed the polarising opener can rebound from Sandpapergate and resume what could be one of the great ODI careers.
Greg Chappell 80 ball hundred v NZ in 1980
Don’t let Greg Chappell’s elegance fool you; Australia’s inscrutable former captain could be as ruthless as anyone in the ODI arena — just ask the 1980 Kiwi side.
Three months before orchestrating the most controversial chapter in Australia’s — an incident sadly knocked off its perch in March 2018 — Chappell was destroying New Zealand very much within the spirit of the game.
In a precursor to the infamous underarm incident, Chappell combined with John Dyson to bat the Kiwis out of the match in the first innings, smashing his century off just 80 balls. Described as a ballet dancer at the crease, Chappell shelved his tutu at the Sydney Cricket Ground, striking at 126 and smashing 10 boundaries and a six on his way to his highest limited overs score and one of nine ODI man of the match awards.
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Originally published as Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Bevan star in Australia’s greatest ever one-day knocks
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