Stats: Instances when opening batsman carried his bat through an ODI innings

New Zealand opener Tom Latham joined the list of opening batsman who carried their bat through an innings in ODIs. Latham achieved this feat when New Zealand played India at Dharamsala in the 1^st ODI of their tour to 2016. Tom Latham remained unbeaten on 79 as New Zealand bundled out for 190. He became the first batsman from New Zealand to achieve the rare feat.

The first batsman to ever achieve this feat was Zimbabwe’s Grant Flower. He had scored an unbeaten 84 at Sydney in 1994 to take his team’s total to 205. Zimbabwe successfully defended the total and won by 13 runs. Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar was the next player to do so. He achieved the distinction at Harare in the 1^st ODI in 1995. Chasing 220 to win, Pakistan scored 219 riding on Anwar’s unbeaten century. The match ended in a tie.

In all, there have been 10 players to have achieved the feat in the history of ODI cricket. There have been 2 players from Pakistan (Saeed Anwar and Azhar Ali), 2 players from England (Nick Knight and Alex Stewart) to have done this. Interestingly, there have been no players from India and Sri Lanka who have carried their bat through the innings in an ODI yet.

There have been four openers out of the ten in the list who have remained unbeaten after scoring centuries. Saeed Anwar, Nick Knight, Damien Martyn and Herschelle Gibbs are the century makers in the list.

Also read – Stats: Top 10 partnerships in first-class cricket

The most recent incidence of this prior to Latham’s effort was by Azhar Ali. Playing against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the 4^th ODI of the series, Ali scored an unbeaten 81. Pakistan were set a target of 244 to win. In response, Ali was left stranded as a lone warrior as Pakistan bundled out for 190. Here is the list of players who have carried their bat through the innings in ODI cricket history: