- Viv Richards smashed 189 not out against England in 1984
- West Indies recovered from 166 for 9 to win at Old Trafford
- Martin Guptill later matched the score but not the occasion
There are brilliant ODI innings and then there is Viv Richards at Old Trafford in 1984.
On May 31 that year the West Indies great produced what many still regard as the finest one-day international knock ever played. It was not simply the unbeaten 189. It was the chaos around him. It was the pressure. It was the sheer audacity of a man refusing to surrender.
Richards walked into trouble and left behind a masterpiece.
Richards rescued West Indies from complete collapse
West Indies were in ruins against England in the opening Texaco Trophy match. The visitors slumped to 102 for 7 with Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Clive Lloyd and Jeff Dujon all dismissed cheaply.
Even Richards looked destined to run out of partners as wickets continued to tumble around him. By the time Michael Holding joined him at the crease the scoreboard read 166 for 9.
What followed became part of cricket folklore.
Richards launched a breathtaking counterattack that transformed desperation into domination. He farmed the strike with remarkable control while Holding survived bravely at the other end. Together they added 106 runs for the final wicket with Holding contributing just 12.
Richards blasted 189 not out from only 170 balls with 21 fours and five towering sixes as West Indies surged to 272 for 9.
England never recovered from the assault and crashed to a 104-run defeat.
Read more: How Jason Gillespie Made Cricket History as the Only Nightwatchman to Smash a Double Century
A knock built on swagger power and genius
The greatness of the innings lay in more than the scorecard.
Richards did not build his innings on modern batting advantages or flat pitches. Old Trafford offered movement and turn while England packed the field defensively. Yet Richards attacked with the confidence of a man playing in his own backyard.
He whipped good-length deliveries through midwicket with terrifying ease and invented angles that fielders simply could not cover. One savage six off Derek Pringle disappeared out of the ground entirely.
His bat looked heavy enough to chop wood but Richards wielded it like a rapier.
The innings stood as the highest score in ODI cricket for 13 years until Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar reached 194 against India in 1997.
Why many still call it ODI Cricket’s Greatest Innings
Nearly three decades later New Zealand opener Martin Guptill also scored 189 in England during an ODI against the hosts in Southampton in 2013.
Guptill’s innings was outstanding filled with clean striking elegant strokeplay and late acceleration. He shared century partnerships and dominated on a batting-friendly surface with modern fielding restrictions heavily favouring batters.
But even as Guptill equalled the number many still looked back to Richards.
The context simply could not compare.
Richards dragged West Indies from collapse almost single-handedly. He scored 93 runs in the final stages of the innings while shielding the tail with ruthless intelligence and fearless aggression.
Guptill produced a wonderful innings. Richards produced cricket theatre at its most unforgettable.
Also read: The Two Tied Tests That Shocked Cricket
Richards’s 189 remains the benchmark
Modern ODI cricket has seen double centuries from Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and others. Batting has evolved and totals have exploded.
Yet Richards’s 189 remains untouchable in the eyes of many who witnessed it.
It was power before power-hitting became fashionable. It was innovation before modern white-ball cricket embraced invention. Above all it was an innings played under immense pressure against the odds.
More than four decades later the image still endures. Viv Richards standing tall at Old Trafford dismantling England while the impossible slowly became inevitable.
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