Top 4 highest ODI run chases in West Indies

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The record-breaker 'Bapu'

A high-scoring chase always turns any ordinary cricket into an intense saga where both combatants fight for supremacy till the last delivery of the encounter. We have witnessed many cricketers becoming heroes of their nations overnight after pulling off a high-scoring run-chase out of nowhere. 

Therefore the heroics in such crucial circumstances carry a lot of importance in the history of international cricket and have had a lion’s share in creating a supreme reputation for many stars. 

Especially when Team West Indies or the Caribbean grounds are involved in such an encounter. The Windies is worldwide known for their unpredictability and prowess in this format while their ground and pitches have also hosted many such run-chases which have gone down in history as one of the greatest of all time.

In a recent turn of events, the touring Indian side chased down a humongous target against the West Indies bowling attack and gave flashbacks of such feats achieved on Caribbean soil in the past. Especially when the Cricket West Indies was heavily criticised by the global fans and authorities for making slow pitches against Bangladesh and also accused them of a deliberate attempt to lower the sparkle of One-Day Internationals. Hence ‘Parimatch News‘ brings you the list of the four highest successful ODI run-chases that happened on Caribbean soil.

#4 309/6 – West Indies against Pakistan in 2017

The celebration says it all

The celebration says it all

This is the only feature in the list where home-team West Indies was on the scoring end. It happened during the year 2017 when the Pakistani side toured the Caribbean islands and clashed with the Maroon Army across all formats. It was the first game of the three-match One-Day International series where the underdog Windies side pulled off a historic chase against all odds. 

While batting first the Cornered Tigers proceeded to set up a mountain of 308 runs at the Providence Stadium in the Land of Giants, Guyana. The Pakistani top three batters blazed fire and contributed 202 runs, especially the ‘Professor’ Mohammed Hafeez who was the top scorer for the Men in Green that day. On the other hand, the West Indies went through a shaky start at the beginning of the chase however, they quickly recovered from it. 

When the third wicket of the West Indies innings fell, the 31-year-old Trinidadian Jason Mohammed took the charge and stayed unbeaten on the individual score of 92 until the ultimate target was achieved. Along with Mohammed, the likes of Evin Lewis and Kieron Powell also played a vital role in their prowess and notably Ashley Nurse whose big hits helped them to finish it in the 49th over itself. Interestingly that defeat gave Pakistan an opportunity to regroup and get the basics right before the Champions Trophy 2017 which they eventually conquered.   

#3 312/8 – India against West Indies in 2022

The most recent feature on the list occurred just a couple of days ago in the ongoing limited-overs bilateral series between the host West Indies and the Indian visitors. The Maroon Army came very close to India’s tally of 308 in the opening game of the tour and continued the batting wrath in the following fixture. 

The Windies skipper Nicolas Pooran won the coin toss at Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval, opted to bat first and the Mighty Marooners went on to post the humongous total of 311 at the completion of 50 overs. The Bajan opener Shai Hope’s diligent hundred and Nicolas Pooran’s captain’s knock of 74 runs put up a challenging task for the batting unit of Men in Blue. 

While chasing the grand target of 309, India suffered through early obstacles and was shattered on 79 for 3 wickets at one stage. Then the 99-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) for the fourth stabled the Indian innings from the quick collapse as both middle-order batters bagged half-centuries. 

When Axar arrived at the crease, India was down to five wickets and still 107 runs away from the given target. The Gujarat-based all-rounder took the matter into his own hands, guided the Men in  Blue towards the total without losing a bit of concentration and pulled it off handsomely. 

India eventually emerged victorious by the slightest margin of two wickets and Axar Patel was felicitated with the Man of the Match award for his match-winning knock of 64 runs from just 35 balls.

#2 313/6 – Sri Lanka against West Indies in 2003 

This one still stands as the highest second innings score by an Asian team on Caribbean soil and is also the oldest feature in the Top 5 list. It was the second fixture of Sri Lanka’s month-long Caribbean tour which was played at Kensington Oval in the capital city of Barbados. 

The visitors were already cruising on a 1-0 lead at that time and were aiming to conquer Bridgetown once again in order to clinch the 50-over saga. However, the hosts also turned up for the second fixture fully prepared and posted a total of 312 while losing only four wickets against the Lankan bowling attack which restricted them to 146 in the earlier encounter. 

The Windies skipper Brian Lara’s speedy century, Chris Gayle’s 94-run stand and late fireworks from the youngster Marlon Samuels starred in the Windies’ mammoth total. In reply, Sri Lanka kick-started the chase with a robust opening stand of 70 runs between Ramesh Kaluwitharana and Sanath Jayasuriya. 

Although the wickets of Lankan Lions kept falling as no other batter could even cross the individual mark of fifty runs. And then the bowling all-rounder Upul Chandana stepped up to become the saviour of his nation and held one end bravely before leaving the battlefield when they were just 20 runs away from the glory. Chandana played his ODI career’s best innings by scoring 89 runs off 71 balls and also smacked six fours and four sixes against the Windies’ bowling attack. 

#1 364/4 – England against West Indies in 2019

The Bravehearts Englishmen

The Bravehearts Englishmen

It was a historic encounter between two of cricket’s oldest rivals where they had legendary combat to take the initial lead in the five-match ODI series. While batting first, West Indies posted their highest-ever total of that time and the English Lions gave a befitting reply by registering their highest-ever run-chase. 

Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval ground hosted this high-scoring saga which commenced with the Windies captain Jason Holder winning the toss and deciding to bat first. The Maroon Army’s batting inning was kick-started by Chris Gayle who scored a marvellous century and got finished by Ashley Nurse’s astonishing hitting in death overs who fetched 25 runs off just eight balls. 

England batters came out to bat with a strong intent to score runs off every ball and keep the runs flow going under any circumstances. The hard-hitting opener Jason Roy and the modern-day great Joe Root struck centuries and turned it into a match-winning contribution later on.

One of the main reasons behind England’s successful chase was their tendency to build partnerships for each wicket and gradually march towards glory. As three out of four English wickets fell after their batters partnered with each other for more than 90 runs (91 for first, 114 for second and 116 for the third wicket. Jason Roy was adjudged as the receiver of Player of the Match honour as a reward for his 123-run knock with a strike rate of 144.70 which set a great tempo for the English chase.