5 ODI openers with minimum runs in a bilateral series at home

5 ODI openers with minimum runs in a bilateral series at home: In ODI cricket the role of an opener is considered to be one hell of a job. Facing the new ball against quality fast bowlers who are fresh and willing to put in the hard yards presents the batsman with lot of tricky questions. The temperament of an opener is way different from that of a middle-order batsman.

The opener has the responsibility of safeguarding the whole batting line-up, because a team which losses an early wicket is always found to be struggling in the match. Early blow puts pressure on the whole batting line-up and the next batsman coming in has to steady the innings before playing their natural game.

There have been many openers who have put up stellar performances in ODI cricket. Although opening the batting in friendly home conditions is considered to be a bit easy in comparison to facing the new ball in overseas conditions. But yet there have been batters who have fared up miserably as an opener in home conditions. Today, we will dig deeper and have a look at the openers with minimum runs in a bilateral ODI series played at home. We are considering a minimum of 5 matches.

The list is topped by the Pakistani all-rounder and opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez. In 2003, Hafeez had made his ODI debut. But that was a year he would like to forget. In the 5-match home ODI series against South Africa, Hafeez’s performances were way below par. Hafeez struggled against pacers and could manage only 33 runs at an average of 6.60 in the series. Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel scalped his wicket 2 times each.

The second position in the list is occupied by the English opener, Alex Hales. Hales who has performed exceedingly well in T20Is hasn’t been able to replicate his magic in the 50-overs format. In the recently concluded bilateral ODI series against Australia, he hit a new low. The right-handed batter scored only 53 runs at a poor average of 10.20 with highest score of 22 runs.

The Bangladeshi southpaw Junaid Siddique is stationed at the 3^rd position. In the 5-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in 2009, Junaid could manage a mere total of 55 runs in the series at an average of 11. His poor performances didn’t have any impact on Bangladesh’s prospect in the series. The hosts defeated the visitors in the series. Xavier Marshall with 58 runs against Australia in 2008 occupies the 4^th position in the list. Marshall who was hailed as a great talent could never do justice to his meticulous skills. In this 5-match series, Xavier scored 58 runs at an average of 11. Out of his tally of 58 runs, 35 runs came in a single match.

The former South African cricketer, Herschelle Gibbs was a dashing opener who could destroy any bowling attack on his day. But his most disastrous ODI series came against the touring West Indies side in 2004. In 5 matches, Gibbs aggregated 60 runs at an average of 15.

Let’s have a look at the 5 ODI openers with minimum runs in a bilateral series at home: