ESPNcricinfo Awards 2010 ODI batting nominees: White's muscle, Tendulkar's record

Cameron White
105 vs Pakistan
first ODI, Brisbane
Long lauded as a huge talent, White has finally started delivering on a regular basis for the one-day side. After starring roles in series wins in England and India, he made over 50 for the first time in home ODIs to drag Australia to victory. Chasing 275, Australia had slid to 84 for 3, and were up against a potent attack in Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal on a quick and bouncy track. White's muscular century, though, flattened Pakistan, and Australia eased home with five wickets remaining. The highlight of the innings was three consecutive leg-side sixes off Afridi in the 41st over.

Sachin Tendulkar
200 not out vs South Africa
second ODI, Gwalior
A barrier that had not been breached in 2961 one-day internationals finally fell in this one, and it was fitting that the batsman with the most ODI runs became the first to get to 200 in an innings. Just how extraordinary Tendulkar's innings was can be gauged from the fact that he had already reached 191 by the end of the 45th over, and was able to cruise to the landmark despite facing only nine deliveries out of the last 30. It was a flat track and the boundaries were short, but the innings came against a top bowling attack, and it was a chanceless effort. Tendulkar retained his trademark modesty at the end, saying he had been seeing the ball and striking it well.

Hashim Amla
129 vs West Indies
fourth ODI, Dominica
Early in his career Amla was seen as something of a Test specialist. But over the last two years he has shown he can score at the pace demanded by the limited-overs game, so much so that he ended 2010 as the leading run-getter in one-dayers. The series against West Indies was his finest, and in it he pillaged 402 runs in five matches, including 129 in the fourth ODI, which helped South Africa chase down 304. Using his usual array of conventional risk-free strokes, he paced his innings according to the match situation and got to his century. He was battling exhaustion towards the end of his innings, which ended when he weakly scooped a ball to mid-off, so tired that he could barely walk off the ground.

Shahid Afridi
109 vs Sri Lanka
first ODI, Dambulla
Pakistan cricket was going through a crisis, with several of their senior players banned due to disciplinary trouble. Afridi was put in charge of a revamped side and he responded with his finest and most mature innings. Don't go by the strike rate of 143.42 or the seven sixes or the demolition of Muttiah Muralitharan (51 off 25 balls), this was every bit a batsman's knock, not a happy hitter's. When he walked in, the game was nearly gone, with four wickets down for 32 in the 14th over. He smacked the first two pitched-up balls for six, and then put on an exhibition of calculated hitting. He was hindered by cramps - groaning in pain after every ball when nearing his century - but dragged Pakistan to within 38 of victory before falling to a catch for the ages from Kumar Sangakkara.

Eoin Morgan
103 not out vs Australia
first ODI, Southampton
It took England until the seventh and final ODI to beat Australia in 2009; nine months later Morgan produced his best one-day international innings to ensure they would start the series on a high. After 25 overs of the chase, there was little to separate the sides, before Morgan's dazzling 103 made the difference. It was a wonderful innings from Morgan, who could do no wrong. He struck 16 boundaries and they came all around the ground, with drives, cuts, pulls, reverse sweeps, glances - all perfectly placed. No other batsman throughout the day found similar touch. He drove England home with four overs to spare, by which time the only point of interest was whether he had enough runs to chase to reach his hundred.

Shakib Al Hasan
106 vs New Zealand
fourth ODI, Mirpur
A dominant all-round performance from Shakib helped Bangladesh secure a historic series win in Mirpur, their first against a top-flight opposition. Shakib's fifth ODI century rescued the home team from the depths of 44 for 3 and lifted them to a formidable 241. He came to the crease with his team struggling, but combined well with Imrul Kayes to take the hosts out of immediate danger. He then posted half-century stands with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah as Bangladesh recovered well. Shakib scored at around a run a ball throughout his innings, piercing the off-side field with surgical precision early on, but relying more on deft dabs and sweeps as he went along in the energy-sapping Mirpur heat. The next highest score in the innings was 37.

Angelo Mathews
77 not out vs Australia
first ODI, Melbourne
Mathews and Lasith Malinga produced one of the great one-day international fightbacks to clinch an improbable victory for Sri Lanka, extending Australia's losing streak to six international games since July. The visitors seemed destined for a humiliating loss when they crashed to 107 for 8 chasing 240, but Mathews and Malinga kept fighting, spurred on by noisy support from a crowd dominated by Sri Lankan fans. Mathews was the architect of the comeback. His 84-ball innings included eight fours and one six and was defined by a regular pinpointing of gaps in the field. He struck the ball cleanly all through, and almost never looked in danger of losing his wicket.

Cameron White
89 not out vs India
second ODI, Visakhapatnam
Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey revived Australia from 16 for 2 with a 144-run third-wicket stand. They couldn't switch to top gear, though, and after 45 overs Australia were at an unthreatening 205 for 3. All that changed as White showed off his lethal hitting skills, laying into seamer R Vinay Kumar in particular. White belted six sixes and four fours in the final five overs to rocket Australia to 289. White himself moved from 25 to 89 in that period. The highlights were the sixes off the last two deliveries: one a brute-force hit over midwicket and the other an all-timing flick over the same area.

Abdul Razzaq
109 not out vs South Africa
second ODI, Abu Dhabi
Fifty-three needed off four overs. Seven wickets down. Time to switch off the TV? Not if Razzaq is around. He produced one of his game-stealing specials to haul Pakistan to a series-levelling victory. It was scarcely scriptable, and only when Razzaq hit his tenth six in the last over, slogging Albie Morkel over midwicket to end an unimaginable frenzy of power-hitting, was a Pakistan win even worth contemplating; until then he had played to a backdrop of impending, imminent doom. The 47th over, bowled poorly by Charles Langeveldt, was pivotal. Razzaq launched a sequence of length balls for three sixes. With 25 needed from 12, Langeveldt was lofted down the ground and then pulled with cartoonish violence to midwicket. By the time Razzaq had taken the 14 needed off the last over he had scored 63 of the last 65.

Virender Sehwag
110 vs New Zealand
sixth ODI, Dambulla
On a tricky, bowler-friendly pitch, where most of his team-mates struggled to get bat on ball, Sehwag appeared to be playing on a typical run-filled subcontinental one-day track, making a match-winning century that carried India into the final of the tri-series. Sehwag played the first few overs cautiously, and it wasn't until the fifth that he opened out, smashing three consecutive boundaries off Kyle Mills. After that, he was collecting fours all around, even while he was losing partners. MS Dhoni then provided support, holding up one end as Sehwag took apart the bowling at the other. Sehwag had back problems by the time he got to his century and holed out to midwicket. His tally in the series till then was 240; the next Indian in line had made 73.

Virat Kohli
118 vs Australia
first ODI, Visakhapatnam
India's top order was set in stone but middle-order slots were still up for grabs when Australia came visiting in October. Kohli chose the only game of the series that wasn't washed out to push himself to the front of the queue, making a mature, match-winning century to end a poor run of form. India had been set a stiff target of 290 and had stumbled to 35 for 2, but with the help of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, Kohli put his side back on track. He was watchful early on, and only after reaching his half-century did he open out with a flurry of fours. There was another burst after he posted his hundred, which shut Australia out of the game.

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