The fearless mode of batting has already made its transition to ODI cricket. Although legends of the past also batted aggressively, these days, we are seeing batsmen taking ODI batting to another level. Hence, we are consistently seeing scores above 175 being made in the one-day format. This was a rarity until recently. In this article, we take a look at five nations with the most individual 175+ scores in ODI cricket history so far.
5) New Zealand – 4
Martin Guptill – 237 *, 189* and 180* || Ross Taylor – 181*
Martin Guptill alone has three 175+ scores for New Zealand in ODIs so far. His knock of 237* was in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup against West Indies. Kiwis won the game with ease. The other two of Guptill’s high scores was also against stiff opposition teams of England and South Africa.
In 2018, when England was the touring team, they had set a score of 336 for the Kiwis to chase. New Zealand was 2-2 in the chase and was in trouble. However, experienced batsman Ross Taylor got his best score of 181* in this game and helped his country chase the total comfortably.
4) Australia – 4
Shane Watson – 185* || Matthew Hayden – 181* || David Warner – 179 and 178
Known to have one of the most aggressive batsmen in the game, Australia has got just four 175+ scores so far. That said, the country has five World Cups, and all of them have been possible with equivalent contributions by each team member.
Shane Watson has the highest individual score for Australia in ODIs. His knock was against Bangladesh, a game in which Watto’s colleagues managed a total of only 45 runs in the chase of 230. Hayden’s 181* helped Australia set up a target of 347 for the Kiwis in a match that happened in 2007. However, the Kiwis chased it down in the final over. Warner has two 175+ scores, one against Pakistan and the other when Australia faced Afghanistan.
3) West Indies – 5
Chris Gayle – 215 || Sir Viv Richards – 189* and 181 || John Campbell – 179 || Evin Lewis – 176*
While Gayle’s century came at the 2015 World Cup, Sir Viv Richards also has a 175+ score at a World Cup, 1987 in his case. The batsman’s highest score of 189* came in a match against England at Manchester in 1984, which the Caribbean men won easily.
John Campbell and Shai Hope had a 365-run opening partnership against Ireland in 2019. It was in this game that Campbell scored 179 runs off 137 deliveries. In 2017, when West Indies toured England, Evin Lewis scored 176 runs but got retired hurt. Had he continued, a double hundred could have transpired for the southpaw.
2) South Africa – 6
Gary Kirsten – 188* || Faf du Plessis – 185 || Quinton de Kock – 178 || Janneman Malan – 177* || AB de Villiers – 176 || Herschelle Gibbs – 175
With six mentions, South Africa stands second on this list of nations with the most individual 175+ scores in ODI cricket so far. The latest addition to this list is Janneman Malan‘s knock, which came against Ireland in 2021.
While Gary Kirsten’s score was in the 1996 World Cup against the UAE, Gibbs’ famous 175 was in the famous chase of 434 runs against Australia. Contemporary cricketers Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers have also got one 175+ scores each, with AB’s knock against Bangladesh coming off just 104 deliveries.
1) India – 12
Rohit Sharma – 264, 209 and 208* || Virender Sehwag – 219 and 175 || Sachin Tendulkar – 200*, 186* and 175 || MS Dhoni – 183* || Sourav Ganguly – 183 || Virat Kohli – 183 || Kapil Dev – 175*
Of course, it is Team India that tops this list of nations with the most individual 175+ scores in ODI cricket so far. Currently, on twelve occasions, the Indian Team has seen players scoring above 175 runs in a single ODI inning. While teams like Australia are yet to have a double-century, India already has five of them.
While the highest-ever individual ODI score belongs to Rohit Sharma, the first double-hundred in ODIs was scored by Sachin Tendulkar. 183 seems to be a special score for Indians. Three legends have this score as their highest individual score so far. While Dada made it at the 1999 World Cup, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli achieved it in intense chases against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively. Of course, being the aggressive batsman that he is, Sehwag also has two mentions in this list. The 175* by Kapil Dev is one of the iconic knocks in ODI cricket. Batting at No.6 and, with India being 17-5, Kapil got 175 runs in the 1983 World Cup game against Zimbabwe.
