The story of Vivian Richards' innings in 1984, which Wisden called "the best innings in ODI history".
You may remember Sachin Tendulkar's 200 against South Africa which was the first double century in the history of ODIs. Then who can forget Rohit Sharma's 264 not out innings whose record has not been broken till date?
Virat Kohli's stormy innings of 183 runs against Pakistan will be fresh in everyone's mind, Saeed Anwar's 194 runs will also be remembered by all.
But one innings that is still considered one of the best ODIs in 38 years is Vivian Richards' innings in 1984, which Wisden called "the best innings in ODI history" and, of course, today. No other ODI can match this masterpiece, let's find out.
Given today's modern cricket, it would not be out of place to say that we are living in an 'era of cricket batting'. In the name of power play, the hands of bowlers and fielders are tied, pitches are also a haven for batting, and bats are also made especially for batsmen, so even big turns in this era do not get that place. This is where the wonderful turn comes.
This is the first ODI match of the West Indies team on a tour of England. The visiting team won the toss and elected to bat first. Both the openers had returned to the pavilion for 11 runs. Was visible
By the end of the day, Sir Vivian Richards was dead in the field. The English bowlers had taken seven wickets till the total score of 107. He will think that this innings will end after another 15-20 runs and his batsmen will get this modest score without any difficulty.
But Vivian Richards' intentions were different from those of the British bowlers.
The Old Trafford Manchester stadium was packed with spectators, and the performance of the English bowlers at the time made it hard for anyone to imagine that England would not be victorious today, but a sight to behold. Going to be a witness.
Richards first put on a 59-run stand for the eighth wicket with Alden Baptist. The giant Joel Garner came and went. Score 166 runs for the loss of nine wickets. Once again, the British captain David Gower must have thought that now this match has come in my pocket.
Richards, on the other hand, had something else in mind. He was joined by Michael Holding for the last wicket. Holding is a legend in fast bowling but his batting performance was just above zero.
Richards was aware of this, so he started playing on both sides. When the last ball came, he would take a single, so that the holding would not have to play.
He himself opened his hand. Now their calamity began to move with the speed of the wind. As the score increased, the six crossed the field and started moving towards the crowd of spectators. The economics of British bowlers began to deteriorate.
When the 55-over innings ended, Wayne Richards had 189 not out in front of his name which he made by playing 170 balls. This masterpiece innings included five sixes and 21 fours.
The magnitude of this turn can be gauged from the fact that Michael Holding and Wayne Richards formed a 106-run partnership for the last wicket in which Holding's share was only 12 runs. On that day, no one could escape the wrath of Neil Foster Sir Vaughan, no matter where he played, whether it was Anne Botham or Bob Willis.
When West Indies added 272 runs, Richards proved himself to be the man of the field by pushing two wickets in the bowling too. ۔
West Indies' 104-run victory in this match laid the foundation for the tour in such a way that England not only lost the ODI series but also later in the Test series, accepting the historic defeat and facing the 'whitewash
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