The West Indies Master Blaster or the Pakistani supremo - YOU choose
ODI GOAT: Sir Viv v Miandad
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!
VIV RICHARDS (WEST INDIES)
The numbers: Matches: 187 | Runs: 6,721 | Average: 47.00 | SR: 90.20 | 100s: 11 | HS: 189no
#ODIGOAT Voting: Richards was a dominant winner in his round of 64 match-up against Sri Lanka champion Aravinda de Silva, claiming 75 per cent of the vote. He faced another Sri Lankan great in Mahela Jayawardena in the second round, and won just as convincingly.
Why he makes the list: It was serendipitous that Viv Richards and ODI cricket came along at a similar time, because it feels like one was made for the other. The West Indies had only played two ODIs before Richards debuted in the format at the 1975 World Cup, and truth be told, he had an ordinary tournament, despite his famous three run-outs in the Windies' final triumph over Australia. It was in 1976 – Richards' record-breaking year in Test cricket – that he found his feet in the format, and never looked back. By the end of the decade, he'd set the benchmark for ODI batting, inspired by his own natural aggression to hit harder and score faster than anyone who'd come before him. A match-winning century in the 1979 final earned him a second World Cup trophy, while an unbeaten 153 from 130 balls against Australia at the MCG in'79 was another instant classic. In the 1980s, 'The Master Blaster' dominated, motoring along at a strike-rate of 90 while every other batsman tried – and failed – to keep up.
Performance we loved: The apogee in a wonderful career came in 1984 against England in Manchester when, with his side deep in trouble at 7-102, Richards launched an outrageous assault on the bowlers, blasting 189no in a total of 9-272 (the next best score was 26). For 13 years it stood as the highest score in ODI history, and to this day remains a contender for the best ODI knock there has been – suitably supplied by one of the best ODI batsmen of all.
JAVED MIANDAD (PAKISTAN)
The numbers: Matches: 233 | Runs: 7,381 | Average: 41.70 | SR: 67.01 | 100s: 8 | HS: 119no
#ODIGOAT Voting: Miandad took on another subcontinent batting great in Mohammad Azharuddin in the opening round of voting, and eased to a comfortable win - claiming 70 per cent of the vote. He faced the Prince of Trinidad in the second round and had a very narrow win against Brian Lara, with 54 per cent of the vote.
Why he makes the list: Javed Miandad loomed as a colossus over ODI cricket for more than two decades, neatly bracketing his 50-over career with the inaugural World Cup in 1975 and the '96 edition on the subcontinent, including his home country of Pakistan. Only Sachin Tendulkar played in as many World Cups (six), Miandad beginning his career in the 50-over showpiece a day before his 18th birthday and closing it out as a 38-year-old with 1083 World Cup runs – then the most ever. Sharp between the wickets as well as between the ears, Miandad rarely scored his runs rapidly (one exception being his 73-ball effort against India on New Year's Eve) but nonetheless was one of the prototype batsmen of one-day cricket, and earned bonus points among his countrymen for his regular standout displays against bitter rivals India (ave 51, with 3x100s).
Performance we loved: Nine wickets down, one ball remaining, four runs required. That was the equation, but the context made it all the more memorable; Pakistan against India in the 1986 final of the 'AustralAsian Cup' in Sharjah. Miandad was unbeaten on 110 when he faced up, his century the shining light in a run chase that had stayed alive solely because of his efforts. A low full-toss from Chetan Sharma was duly dispatched over midwicket for six, and Pakistan had won a classic ODI and kick-started a run of success over India that was largely attributed to the psychological blow Miandad's winning boundary had struck.
#ODIGOAT First Round
Tendulkar v Sharma | Akram v Starc | Garner v Donald | Richards v de Silva | Azharuddin v Miandad | Dev v Vettori | Lloyd v Border | Jones v Clarke | Waqar v Johnson | Warne v Kumble | Hooper v S. Waugh | Imran v Hadlee | Lee v Akhtar | M. Waugh v Jayasuriya | De Villiers v Boucher | Lara v Amla | Gilchrist v McCullum | Gayle v Haynes | McGrath v Pollock | Anwar v Ganguly | Sehwag v Greenidge | Ponting v Gibbs | Dhoni v Sangakkara | Inzamam v Kallis | Murali v Hogg | Bond v Ambrose | Malinga v Vaas | Kohli v Pietersen | Symonds v Klusener | Afridi v Saqlain | Bevan v Hussey | Dilshan v Jayawardena
#ODIGOAT Second Round
Shoaib v Waqar | Jayasuriya v S. Waugh | Ambrose v Vaas | Miandad v Lara | Warne v Dev | Border v Inzamam | Gilchrist v Sangakkara | Richards v Jaywardena | Wasim v Garner | Ponting v Clarke | McGrath v Imran | Tendulkar v Anwar | Bevan v Sehwag | Symonds v De Villiers | Muralidaran v Afridi | Kohli v Gayle