ODI GOAT: Jayasuriya v Ponting

02 May 2016 Sam Ferris & Adam Burnett

A battle between two of the best their respective countries have ever produced as things get serious in the ODI GOAT voting

The #ODIGOAT is cricket.com.au's knockout competition to determine who the fans think is the greatest ODI player of all time. We started with our top 64 ODI players and now we're asking YOU to do the hard work – that is, narrow it down to one. Set up in much the same way as a tennis tournament, each day you'll see head-to-head match-ups, with the winner of those progressing to the next round to square off with their next challenger. From 64, to 32, we are now into the round of 16. Next it will be 8, 4 and ultimately our final. So cast your VOTE and decide just who is the greatest ODI player in history!

RESULT

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SANATH JAYASURIYA (SRI LANKA)

The numbers: Matches: 445 | Runs: 13,430 | Average: 32.36 | SR: 91.20 | 100s: 28 | HS: 189 | Wickets: 323 | Average: 36.75 | SR: 46.0 | Economy: 4.78 | BB: 6-29 | 5w: 4

WATCH: Mix Tape: Best of super Sanath

#ODIGOAT voting: It's not a stretch to say Jayasuriya has been through the wars to reach the third round - or rather, through the Waugh brothers. Jayasuriya saw off younger brother Mark with three-quarters of the vote in round one, and then had a close battle with Steve before emerging with 60 per cent of the vote to progress.

Why he makes the list: For a small man, Sanath Jayasuriya wielded his blade with serious power. Muscular forearms combined with hawk-like vision to produce one of the most devastating batsmen in the history of ODI cricket. Bowlers who pitched short or wide immediately rued their inaccuracy; invariably they'd be forced to watch on as the ball flashed behind point, through cover or square on the leg side to the boundary. The left-hander was at the heart of an ODI revolution in the mid-1990s, after he was promoted to the top of the order by Arjuna Ranatunga and given a license to make hay in the initial 15 overs when the field was up and quick runs were in the offing. No-one performed the role as effectively – or spectacularly – as Jayasuriya, who scored 28 hundreds as an opening batsman across almost two decades in the position (second only to Sachin Tendulkar's 45). In Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka had a world-class aggressor who set the tone for their new-age agenda, and his performances in their triumphant 1996 World Cup campaign – most notably a pair of match-winning knocks against India and England – were critical to his team's success. The hundreds flowed thick and fast from there – highlighted by 189 against India in 2000, still the highest score by a Sri Lankan – while with the ball his left-arm orthodox tweakers were a regular and important part of the make-up of his country's attack through to his retirement in 2011, which ended a 22-year career at the top.

Performance we loved: Perhaps invigorated by a World Cup title, Jayasuriya's first ODI innings after claiming the '96 title sent records tumbling and set a new benchmark in the format. Against Pakistan in Singapore, he took 32 balls to reach his 50, but needed only half as many again to blitz to three figures. A century in 48 balls obliterated the previous mark for the fastest-ever ODI hundred (Mohammad Azharuddin's 62-ball effort in 1988), while the 11 sixes in his 134 (65 balls) surpassed Gordon Greenidge's eight, made in 1989.

RICKY PONTING (AUSTRALIA)

The numbers: Matches: 375 | Runs: 13,704 | Average: 42.03 | SR: 80.39 | 100s: 30 | HS: 164

WATCH: From the Vault: Ponting on top of the world

#ODIGOAT voting: Ponting swept the floor with South African great Herschelle Gibbs in the round of 64, taking an incredible 92 per cent of the vote. He did the same for Michael Clarke in the second, with 90 per cent of votes. Can anyone stop the Ponting juggernaut or will he roll through into the ODI GOAT final stages?

Why he makes the list: A colossus of one-day cricket, Ricky Ponting emerged as a pint-sized Tasmanian with a ruthless streak that defined every facet of his game. Combining an uncompromising nature with the gifts that moved then Academy coach Rod Marsh to label him the best young batsman he'd ever seen, Ponting went on to establish himself as the greatest ODI No.3 of them all, and perhaps the most imposing figure at the crease since Viv Richards. With an incomparable pull shot the pick of a bagful of strokes, the belligerent right-hander was the driving force behind Australia's dominance in ODI cricket from the beginning of the 21st century. In the field, his catching was phenomenal, but it was his penchant for direct-hit run-outs that set a new benchmark. As captain, he entered uncharted waters, taking his team to consecutive World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007 without dropping a single match. He bowed out of World Cup cricket in the 2011 tournament with a fighting century against eventual champions India, having ensured his legacy as one of the all-time greats.

WATCH: Ponting's World Cup final masterclass

Performance we loved: There were 30 hundreds and plenty of classics among them, but how can we go past the imperious 140no he made in the 2003 World Cup final? India invited Australia to bat, and with a strong platform laid, Ponting took his time to settle in, his 50 coming up from 74 balls with just one four. From there, he flicked the switch, and provided a spectacle of hitting rarely seen; eight sixes were dispatched into the crowd – several of them into the upper tiers – as Ponting launched a blitzkrieg on the Indian bowlers in the back half of the innings. The result was the most emphatic statement imaginable – Ponting's final 90 had come from 47 balls, he'd shared an unbroken 234-run stand with Damien Martyn, and India needed 360 to win the World Cup. They didn't come close.

#ODIGOAT First Round

#ODIGOAT Second Round

#ODIGOAT Third Round

Richards v Miandad

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