Champions of close contests

The last couple of years have seen the 50-over format of the game take a hammering, with Twenty20 threatening to replace the ODI as the major limited-overs version. A poor World Cup in the West Indies and a fabulous World Twenty20 in South last year showed where spectator interest, and perhaps the future of the game, lie.

For those who advocate Twenty20s over ODIs, the key argument is that a one-sided contest in an ODI is like a television soap that refuses to go off air. However, when an ODI goes right, with two teams fighting every inch to pull off a win, it makes for compelling viewing, as happened in two recent encounters: when India beat Sri Lanka by two wickets in Adelaide, and the thrilling tie between New Zealand and England in Napier.

This week the List looks at performances in such close ODIs: the players who have featured in such matches the most times, highest winning percentages, best batting and bowling averages. To clarify at the outset, a close ODI has been defined as a match in which the victory margin is less than or equal to ten runs or two wickets, or a win achieved with only three balls or fewer remaining, and of course, the classification includes ties as well.

Given that he has played the most ODIs, it's no surprise that Sachin Tendulkar tops the list of players who have featured in the most close games - 65, or 15.66% of his total career ODIs. Among players with over 35 ODIs, Steve Waugh has the highest percentage of "close contests", while two others with over 10,000 Test runs, Allan Border and Brian Lara, have the highest and lowest percentages of wins respectively in close contests.

A surprise, perhaps, is the fact that Shaun Pollock has a win percentage of over 60% in such matches, since South Africa have often tended to choke on the big stage.

England haven't been the most exciting one-day outfit for quite a while now, but the number of England players with high percentages of close ODI results suggest they have been able to entertain fans with well-fought games. Offspinner Robert Croft leads the list, which has 13 England players in the top 20. Twenty-eight per cent of Croft's overall 50 ODIs have been close games. In the list, John Emburey has the highest winning percentage, 70%, from 15 ODIs, while another Englishman, Robin Smith, falls well short at 28.12%. Four Australians, one West Indian, one Pakistani and an Indian make up the rest of the table.

However, it's the Australians who dominate when it comes to the highest percentage of wins in close results. A fair number of players from their World Cup-winning squad in 1987 - where they had a few close shaves - figure in the list, but the leader of the pack is Andy Bichel. Four of Bichel's 12 matches came in the first half of 2003, including his magnificent all-round effort against England in Port Elizabeth during the World Cup, where he took 7 for 20 and then scored an unbeaten 34 to seal a two-wicket win.

Ian Bradshaw, one of two West Indians in the list, also happened to score 34 not out in West Indies' improbable two-wicket win in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval in 2004.

David Boon, Craig McDermott, Geoff Marsh and Tom Moody were all part of Australia's 1987 World Cup campaign, during which the team picked up three crucial last-ditch wins, against India and New Zealand by one and three runs during the group stage, and capped it with a remarkable seven-run triumph over England in the final. All four were playing when Australia did an encore against India at the 1992 World Cup, while Boon, Marsh and McDermott were also involved in the tied Test against the same team in 1986.

Two former England captains, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, have experienced the anguish of losing in humdingers most frequently, while India's Ravi Shastri, considered among the more mentally tough Indian players, and Kiran More - both of whom were on the receiving end when Australia pulled off those miraculous wins - also feature in the list.

Courtney Walsh, who sportingly did not run out the non-striker who was backing up too far, thereby helping Pakistan complete a one-wicket win off the final delivery in the 1987 World Cup, and his team-mates Curtly Ambrose, Keith Arthurton, Roger Harper and Anderson Cummins found themselves on the losing side in tight contests more than they would have wished for. Among the current crop of players are Ajit Agarkar, Corey Collymore, and two cricketers who have had troubles with depression and mental fatigue - Lou Vincent and Marcus Trescothick.

Michael Bevan has won Australia many a close ODI, including the one he sealed with a last-ball four against Harper in 1996, and that gripping run-chase in unison with Bichel, and he leads the batting averages chasing in tantalising contests. Another reputed finisher, Neil Fairbrother, is in the list, while West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle feature as well. In run-chases, Gayle has a winning percentage of 71.42%; the only other batsman in the list above 70 is, surprisingly, Zimbabwe's Andy Flower, with eight wins in 12 tough chases. Power-hitters Andrew Symonds, Lance Klusener and India's Robin Singh are in the top 20, which includes South African openers Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs, and Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saleem Malik.

McDermott is by far the master at defending a target in a hard-fought chase; in his 16 close ODIs, he has finished on the winning side in 13; he has a bowling average of 19.93 in those games. Waqar Younis has an astounding average of 14.48 while defending scores in close ODIs, with two five-wicket hauls and three four-wicket hauls. Shane Warne is right behind at 15.75: two of his three four-fors while bowling second came in Man-of-the-Match performances, in the World Cup semi-finals in 1996 and 1999.

Allan Donald, who didn't keep his head in that Edgbaston semi-final against Australia in 1999, also finds a place, and so do former Pakistan captains Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. Two other famous allrounders, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev, also make the list. Steve Waugh, who used the slower ball to deadly effect in the 1987 World Cup, not surprisingly has the third-best winning percentage in the list, with offspinner Peter Taylor second. Australia didn't fail to defend a target through that edition of the tournament, and of the three tight games mentioned above, Waugh bowled the heart-stopping final over in two, against India and New Zealand, and conceded only four and three to seal victories.