Greatest ODI Game of All-time

[Burgey]

One game you missed is AUS vs WI QF in 1996 . It was also a very high quality game

That was the crazy collapse when WI had it in the bag wasn't it?

 

[ankitj]

No Indian fan here has the NatWest 2002 final as their favorite?

One of India's top 3 ODI wins in last ~30 years. It was watershed in that from that point onwards India no longer relied exclusively on Tendulkar (and to a lesser extent Ganguly). It was also the point after which chasing big totals was no longer an inept scramble but had a method.

 

[thierry henry]

It wasn't just that the 99 game had more ATGs, but that several of them performed in the same game.
Donald and Pollock took four and five wickets respectively.
Bevan and Steve Waugh saved Australia.
Warne produced one of the greatest spells ever by an ODI spinner.
Kallis and Rhodes rescued SA, and then Klusener took them near the finishing line.
So in the same game, you saw worldclass pace, seam, spin, middle order scoring and late order hitting.

The 2019 game, I didn't feel NZ was an underdog but a near competitor. England had a great side too. There were some great batting heroics and the finish was the best ever, but not the all-round excellence of the 99 game where we saw ODI skills of the highest order.

I mean…both games had similar scores, so you’re basically saying that a game with lots of successes and lots of failures is better than one where everyone chips in a bit. I wouldn’t say that’s self-evidently true at all but I take your point. A lot of gun cricketers flopped in that 1999 SF, as a corollary to what you’re saying.

I agree that given the history (particularly England’s) the outcome of 2019 was far from a fait accompli going in: but it’s absolutely clear that England had by far the better form and recent record going in. They had dominated for the whole WC cycle while NZ’s form had been pretty middling, including in the WC itself.

 

[subshakerz]

I mean…both games had similar scores, so you’re basically saying that a game with lots of successes and lots of failures is better than one where everyone chips in a bit. I wouldn’t say that’s self-evidently true at all but I take your point. A lot of gun cricketers flopped in that 1999 SF, as a corollary to what you’re saying.

I agree that given the history (particularly England’s) the outcome of 2019 was far from a fait accompli going in: but it’s absolutely clear that England had by far the better form and recent record going in. They had dominated for the whole WC cycle while NZ’s form had been pretty middling, including in the WC itself.

I am saying, if we are calling a game the greatest ever, then outstanding performances by some of the best cricketers ever would be part of that, rather than a bunch of middling performances by lesser known cricketers that nobody can recall, aside from Stokes/Buttler's contributions.

However, I wont pretend my criteria is not subjective as is yours.

 

[Bolo.]

Rank bowlers? NZ had a very strong attack by our standards (especially cos Southee was in a good ODI bowler phase at the time), so you’re basically writing off the standard of the game because SA went in with 4 specialist bowlers -something extremely common throughout ODI history?

Dodgy political cloud?

Rain sure, although I feel like it just added another layer of drama to the game

Anyway, I tend to agree it’s not the winner, but not sure I follow some of your criticisms

I'm not writing it off. It's one of the best games I've seen. I just don't think the problems it had put it on the same level as a couple of others.

You often see 5th bowlers, but not this bad. Bit of a lack of great bowlers as well without the thrill of wanton runscoring that the 438 game provided.

Dodgy politics is a new, unqualified, corrupt politician forcing a change without an actual government policy in place to swing his dick around. Even if this doesn't bother you within the context of the game, the fact that an unfit bowler was forced in at the expense of one in fantastic form should.

Rain is always crap.

 

[Godard]

The 1999 SF from a historic perspective is also exceptional, since it was a showdown between the two best ODI sides of that era, and basically the side that won ruled ODI cricket for the next 7-8 years. Also from a more poetic perspective, it is SA and Aus’s story both crystallised in a single match. It was very overwhelming from a spectator point of view from a minute to minute perspective too: the brash batting by Ponting and Gilchrist, the fiery spell by Donald to reduce them to 68/4, the resilience by Waugh and Bevan when batting was really tough(some 6 runs in 8 overs), a fiery spell from Pollock to clean up the tail, the attacking batsmanship from Gibbs, genius from Warne, resilience from Kallis and the attacking Rhodes, cameos by Pollock and Klusener that fell short, also poor application under pressure from Reiffel, Donald and Boucher. You are not only gripped from a moment to moment basis, but see all shades of performance. It’s as if life was represented in a match.

 

[subshakerz]

The 1999 SF from a historic perspective is also exceptional, since it was a showdown between the two best ODI sides of that era, and basically the side that won ruled ODI cricket for the next 7-8 years. Also from a more poetic perspective, it is SA and Aus’s story both crystallised in a single match. It was very overwhelming from a spectator point of view from a minute to minute perspective too: the brash batting by Ponting and Gilchrist, the fiery spell by Donald to reduce them to 68/4, the resilience by Waugh and Bevan when batting was really tough(some 6 runs in 8 overs), a fiery spell from Pollock to clean up the tail, the attacking batsmanship from Gibbs, genius from Warne, resilience from Kallis and the attacking Rhodes, cameos by Pollock and Klusener that fell short, also poor application under pressure from Reiffel, Donald and Boucher. You are not only gripped from a moment to moment basis, but see all shades of performance. It’s as if life was represented in a match.

Some other things that stand out from the game:
- Pollock taking a wicket in the first over, giving a sense this was a great game in the making
- Donald towards the end firing yorkers and rockets to skittle the Aussie tail
- Gibbs knocking around McGrath in the beginning before getting done over by Warne's Gatting ball
- Those two alien shots played by Klusener in the last over for fours
- Above all, Bill Lawry's excited commentary which raised the drama level to an 11

 

[ankitj]

I recall watching end stages of both Aus-SA games. Nerve wrecking as a neutral. Can't imagine how it was for fans of either teams. The drama and quality of those 2 games can't be matched.

I voted for the 434/438 game ftr. It was inconceivable that scoreline.

 

[honestbharani]

That 99 semi had a period when RSA bowled and gave away like 11 runs in a 10 over period. Just an amazing game all around and so tense throughout.