Top 20 highest ODI totals in Cricket history

Top 20 highest ODI totals in Cricket history

Almost a decade ago from now, cricket used to be a pretty calm game not just in terms of players’ bearing but in terms of scoring runs as well. Fear not, as this isn’t yet another cricket and the gentlemen’s game sort of article. Actually, this time the points of discussion is the abrupt rise in players’ run scoring appetite resulting in some mammoth ODI totals on the board.  To give the notion a statistical authority, take a look at the top 20 highest ODI totals in cricket history. Apart from one target, coming right on bottom of the list that too against one of the weakest cricket opponents in the world, not a single of the top 20 highest ODI totals has been recorded in 90’s era.

The trend of putting up some great totals for the opposition side has emerged in most recent years. The advent of T20 format of the game is also somehow a contributor to the trend apart from cricket rules being more ideal for the batting sides. Similarly the promotion of associate cricket teams in major events of International Cricket Council has offered the best cricket teams to pile up huge scores taking advantage of their inexperience. Though these sides deserve a place to be a participant in apex ICC events and they do clear the proper qualifying criterion for playing such events. But a competition between a world’s best cricket team and a newbie in the profession usually results in something out of common. The numbers on top of the highest ODI totals list was also a manifesto of such cockeyed encounter a few days ago. A 443 run target set by Sri Lanka against the infants Netherlands. Both Jayasuriya and TM Dilshan charged down against the inexperienced Netherlands bowlers to record the second highest total. Now England holds that feat against a side that is considered to be the best bowling attack in the world – Pakistan.

The scoring graph of cricket games is expected to grow further in coming years as stats suggest. The most recent ODI World Cup held in New Zealand and Australia jointly, has set a new trend of scoring over 400 runs on routine basis. Interestingly, these World Cup 2015 venues were the same which used to be death for batsmen against the pace bowlers a few years ago.  World Cup 2015 was the last major event of ODI cricket recently. Most teams of the cricket world after the world cup 2015 were busy in anticipatory preparations of the T20 world cup. However now as T20 world cup has reached its ultimate fate, One Day International game will again rise to its climax thus making teams’ approach towards the game even more vivid. Expecting the highest ODI totals in cricket to be reinvented soon, let’s take a look at the standing top 20 highest ODI totals chart.

Top 20 highest ODI totals in Cricket history

Team England	Score 444/3	Opposition Pakistan	Match Date 30 August 2016	Venue Nottingham
Sri Lanka	443/9	Netherlands	4 Jul 2006	Amstelveen
South Africa	439/2	West Indies	18 Jan 2015	Johannesburg
South Africa	438/9	Australia	12 Mar 2006	Johannesburg
South Africa	438/4	India	25 Oct 2015	Mumbai
Australia	434/4	South Africa	12 Mar 2006	Johannesburg
South Africa	418/5	Zimbabwe	20 Sep 2006	Potchefstroom
India	418/5	West Indies	8 Dec 2011	Indore
Australia	417/6	Afghanistan	4 Mar 2015	Perth
India	414/7	Sri Lanka	15 Dec 2009	Rajkot
India	413/5	Bermuda	19 Mar 2007	Port of Spain
Sri Lanka	411/8	India	15 Dec 2009	Rajkot
South Africa	411/4	Ireland	3 Mar 2015	Canberra
South Africa	408/5	West Indies	27 Feb 2015	Sydney
England	408/9	New Zealand	9 Jun 2015	Birmingham
India	404/5	Sri Lanka	13 Nov 2014	Kolkata
New Zealand	402/2	Ireland	1 Jul 2008	Aberdeen
India	401/3	South Africa	24 Feb 2010	Gwalior
South Africa	399/6	Zimbabwe	22 Oct 2010	Benoni
England	399/9	South Africa	3 Feb 2016	Bloemfontein
Sri Lanka	398/5	Kenya	6 Mar 1996	Kandy