Sunday Snippets
By Venkatesh Raghavan
How the safety mark for one-day fixtures kept mounting over decades
Tall scores in a one-day encounter progressively kept mounting over the decades with the spectator perception on what’s a safe total changing from time to time. It may be recalled that the first three World Cup cricket tournaments were sixty-over fixtures. Way back in 1975, a total near 270 or above was considered to be respectable and safe, ensuring a victory for the team batting first.
In fact, it might be recalled that in the first World Cup, in an England versus India fixture, England batted first and scored 332 for five wickets. India’s response was a tame 132 for three partly assisted by an unbeaten 36 scored by Sunil Gavaskar who carried the bat through. In the maiden version of the short-format of this game regarded any 300 plus total as a monumental and rare feat. It may be recalled that the West Indies scored above 290 batting first in the finals and managed to beat Australia by a slender margin of 17 runs.
The subsequent World Cup in 1979 too witnessed a similar pattern, with any score above 270 being regarded as unassailable. In the finals of the tournament, the West Indies had scored 286, batting first. Their opponent England lost the match by a mile. Till then, a one-day fixture painted a picture of 60-over innings. One of the reasons for this was, an English summer witnesses a long duration of sunlight that permits enough time for completion of 120 overs. As the World Cup fixtures resulted in cricketing teams playing one-day internationals against each other on a regular basis, the 60-over image took a backseat and all one-day games were for only 50 overs.
The fifty-over fixtures post 1980, in the World Series Cricket tournaments, that witnessed many triangular contests, any score above 180 or 190 was regarded as a respectable total meriting a victory. This gradually shifted to a total near 220 soon after the triangular series between Australia, India and New Zealand, down under. Ironically, the team that was considered weakest in One-day tournaments, namely India was instrumental in achieving a near 220 score after batting first. However, the World Cup fixtures in 1983 continued to be played as 60 over matches. In the third edition of the World Cup, scores between 250 and 300 were regarded as respectable.
Gradually, as the rules for one-day internationals kept changing in favour of the batsmen, respectable scores in 50-over fixtures started crossing the 250 runs mark. All the subsequent World Cups adhered to the 50-overs format and any score between 240 and 260 was regarded as a stiff target for the opponent team. The 1995 World Cup changed the complexion of the game. The Sri Lankan team with hard-hitting opening pair Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, the wicket-keeper batsman made 270 plus targets easily achievable. In fact, it might be recalled that in an England versus Sri Lanka fixture, the English team managed to inch past 230. However, this score was made to look too low, yielding a facile victory to the Sri Lankans.
A couple of years later, with most one-day fixtures being on flat, batsmen-friendly wickets, a 300 plus total was regarded as a safe bet. Instances of teams batting first crossing the 300 runs mark started increasing. Besides, teams successfully chasing 300 plus totals began to get on the rise. One such memorable occasion was when India successfully chased a 325 run plus score in the NatWest trophy Final. Then another record was set in a one-day international fixture between Australia and South Africa. The Australians batting first, had scored 437 and South Africa came into bat with a stiff target putting their batsmen under pressure from the word go. South Africa managed to successfully chase the stiff target. People in India seated in bars watching the match burst into a big round of celebrations as they empathized with South Africa defeating a strong opponent.
With this myth, the insurance or cover provided by a 300 plus total stood shattered. The one-day matches are considered still wide open after the team batting first posts a 300 plus score.
