Australia locked horns with England (MCC) on January 5, 1971 at the Melbourne Cricket ground
The Second-longest format of Cricket, ODI which is an exempted version of the 60-over cricket played before 1977 was first played by the most successful side in this format Australia and their arch-rivals England. 5th January 1971 was the day at the MCG where ODI cricket was born. Since that match, 4,498 ODIs have been played.
Since then, Twelve 50-over World Cups have been played and the Kangaroos have won it the most number of times (5) and on this day in 1971, they won the Toss and asked England to bat first. It was a 40-over match and today’s one of the most safe totals in T20 cricket, 191 was the target. Indeed, cricket did not develop the way it has today.
From changes in the shape of a bat to transitioning the approach of players, the hard-hitting “Bazball” Cricket we see today wasn’t always the case. This Sport has come a long way.
Meanwhile, England had Geoff Boycott and John Edrich open the innings against Australia’s bowling line-up of Graham Mckenzie, Alan Thomson, Alan Connolly, Ashley Mallett and Keith Stackpole. All the 5 bowlers had 8-over spells each and kept taking out English batters regularly.
Graham Mckenzie bowled the first ball of ODI Cricket to Geoff Boycott for a dot ball. Alan Thomson took the first wicket in ODI cricket as he dismissed Boycott for 8 runs. It was a bouncer which surprised the batter and he mistimed while trying to pull the ball away. Aussie Captain Bill Lawry was underneath the ball at the Short Mid-on region.
After breaking the 21-run partnership between the two openers, John Edrich and 1st down Keith Fletcher handled things at the middle, counting for a 66-run partnership before Ashley Malett removed Fletcher for 24 off 27. The Batters who followed – Basil D’Oliviera, John Hampshire among others failed to score more than 25 runs.
John Edrich had the highest score for England with 82 but he was also sent back to the dressing room by Ashley Malett. As a result, England were bowled out for 190 by 39.4 overs with Mckenzie going for 2/22, Thomson took 1/22, while Malett and Keith Stackpole went for 3/34 and 3/40 respectively.
In response Australia began their chase with Bill Lawry and Keith Stockpole. The opening duo went off to a good start with Lawry scoring 27 and Stockpole 13 before giving wickets to Ray Illingworth and Ken Shuttleworth. Number 3 Ian Chapell and 2nd down Doug Walters partnered for 66 runs to help Australia cross the 100-run mark.
Basil D’Oliviera broke their partnership but Ian Chapell and Ian Redpath knitted another partnership of 41 runs. The former scored a half-century but both the batters were removed by Illingworth to scores of 60 and 12. Gregg Chapell and Rod Marsh provided the finishing touches and helped Australia to win the first ever One Day International match.
The Aussies are the most successful side since then as they won 592 matches, lost 340, tied 9 and no result 34 times. They have also won the 50-over ICC events most number of times – ICC Cricket World Cup in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015, ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009. What a dominant time they had.
On the other hand India have played the most ODI’s – 1020 matches, 532 victories, 436 losses, 9 ties and 43 no results. They have won the World cup Twice in 1983 and 2011 with the Champions trophy in 2013.
Batting and Bowling Stats in ODI Cricket –
Top 5 batters with Most Runs
| Sachin Tendulkar | 18,426 Runs |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 14,234 Runs |
| Ricky Ponting | 13,704 Runs |
| Sanath Jayasurya | 13,430 Runs |
| Mahela Jayawardene | 12,650 Runs |
Top 5 Most Centuries
| Sachin Tendulkar | 49 Centuries |
| Virat Kohli | 44 Centuries |
| Ricky Ponting | 30 Centuries |
| Rohit Sharma | 29 Centuries |
| Sanath Jayasurya | 28 Centuries |
Shahid Afridi has the most Sixers – 351.
Top 5 Most Wickets
| Muthiah Muralidharan | 534 Wickets |
| Wasim Akram | 502 Wickets |
| Waqar Younis | 416 Wickets |
| Chaminda Vaas | 400 Wickets |
| Shahid Afridi | 395 Wickets |
Sri-Lankan Left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas has the best bowling figures in ODI with 8/19 against Zimbabwe.
