On This Day, 34 years ago (31st May 1984) West Indian batting legend Sir Viv Richards played an attacking innings of 189 not out of just 170 balls, with 21 fours and five sixes. He smashed the England bowling attack to all corners of Old Trafford ground and it is still considered one of the greatest innings even today also.
(courtesy: you tube)
Highest Individual Scores In ODI History of more than and equal to 170 runs:
| Player | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | Team | OPP | Ground | Match Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Sharma | 264 | 173 | 33 | 9 | 152.6 | IND | SL | Kolkata | November 13, 2014 |
| M Guptill | 237 * | 163 | 24 | 11 | 145.39 | NZ | WI | Wellington | March 21, 2015 |
| V Sehwag | 219 | 149 | 25 | 7 | 146.97 | IND | WI | Indore | December 8, 2011 |
| C Gayle | 215 | 147 | 10 | 16 | 146.25 | WI | ZIM | Canberra | February 24, 2015 |
| R Sharma | 209 | 158 | 12 | 16 | 132.27 | IND | AUS | Bengaluru | November 2, 2013 |
| R Sharma | 208 * | 153 | 13 | 12 | 135.94 | IND | SL | Mohali | December 13, 2017 |
| S Tendulkar | 200 * | 147 | 25 | 3 | 136.05 | IND | SA | Gwalior | February 24, 2010 |
| C Coventry | 194 * | 156 | 16 | 7 | 124.35 | ZIM | BAN | Bulawayo | August 16, 2009 |
| Saeed Anwar | 194 | 146 | 22 | 5 | 132.87 | PAK | IND | Chennai | May 21, 1997 |
| V Richards | 189 * | 170 | 21 | 5 | 111.17 | WI | ENG | Manchester | May 31, 1984 |
| M Guptill | 189 * | 155 | 19 | 2 | 121.93 | NZ | ENG | Southampton | June 2, 2013 |
| S Jayasuriya | 189 | 161 | 21 | 4 | 117.39 | SL | IND | Sharjah | October 29, 2000 |
| G Kirsten | 188 * | 159 | 13 | 4 | 118.23 | SA | UAE | Rawalpindi | February 16, 1996 |
| S Tendulkar | 186 * | 150 | 20 | 3 | 124 | IND | NZ | Hyderabad (Deccan) | November 8, 1999 |
| S Watson | 185 * | 96 | 15 | 15 | 192.7 | AUS | BAN | Dhaka | April 11, 2011 |
| F du Plessis | 185 | 141 | 16 | 3 | 131.2 | SA | SL | Cape Town | February 7, 2017 |
| MS Dhoni | 183 * | 145 | 15 | 10 | 126.2 | IND | SL | Jaipur | October 31, 2005 |
| SC Ganguly | 183 | 158 | 17 | 7 | 115.82 | IND | SL | Taunton | May 26, 1999 |
| V Kohli | 183 | 148 | 22 | 1 | 123.64 | IND | PAK | Dhaka | March 18, 2012 |
| M Hayden | 181 * | 166 | 11 | 10 | 109.03 | AUS | NZ | Hamilton | February 20, 2007 |
| L Taylor | 181 * | 147 | 17 | 6 | 123.12 | NZ | ENG | Dunedin | March 7, 2018 |
| V Richards | 181 | 125 | 16 | 7 | 144.8 | WI | SL | Karachi | October 13, 1987 |
| M Guptill | 180 * | 138 | 15 | 11 | 130.43 | NZ | SA | Hamilton | March 1, 2017 |
| J Roy | 180 | 151 | 16 | 5 | 119.2 | ENG | AUS | Melbourne | January 14, 2018 |
| DA Warner | 179 | 128 | 19 | 5 | 139.84 | AUS | PAK | Adelaide | January 26, 2017 |
| H Masakadza | 178 * | 167 | 17 | 4 | 106.58 | ZIM | KEN | Harare | October 18, 2009 |
| D Warner | 178 | 133 | 19 | 5 | 133.83 | AUS | AFG | Perth | March 4, 2015 |
| Q de Kock | 178 | 113 | 16 | 11 | 157.52 | SA | AUS | Centurion | September 30, 2016 |
| P Stirling | 177 | 134 | 21 | 5 | 132.08 | IRE | CAN | Toronto | September 7, 2010 |
| E Lewis | 176 * | 130 | 17 | 7 | 135.38 | WI | ENG | The Oval | September 27, 2017 |
| AB de Villiers | 176 | 104 | 15 | 7 | 169.23 | SA | BAN | Paarl | October 18, 2017 |
| Kapil Dev | 175 * | 138 | 16 | 6 | 126.81 | IND | ZIM | Tunbridge Wells | June 18, 1983 |
| H Gibbs | 175 | 111 | 21 | 7 | 157.65 | SA | AUS | Johannesburg | March 12, 2006 |
| S Tendulkar | 175 | 141 | 19 | 4 | 124.11 | IND | AUS | Hyderabad (Deccan) | November 5, 2009 |
| V Sehwag | 175 | 140 | 14 | 5 | 125 | IND | BAN | Dhaka | February 19, 2011 |
| C MacLeod | 175 | 141 | 14 | 5 | 124.11 | SCO | CAN | Christchurch | January 23, 2014 |
| W Tharanga | 174 * | 159 | 19 | 3 | 109.43 | SL | IND | Kingston | July 2, 2013 |
| M Waugh | 173 | 148 | 16 | 3 | 116.89 | AUS | WI | Melbourne | February 9, 2001 |
| D Warner | 173 | 136 | 24 | 0 | 127.2 | AUS | SA | Cape Town | October 12, 2016 |
| C Wishart | 172 * | 151 | 18 | 3 | 113.9 | ZIM | NAM | Harare | February 10, 2003 |
| A Gilchrist | 172 | 126 | 13 | 3 | 136.5 | AUS | ZIM | Hobart | January 16, 2004 |
| L Vincent | 172 | 120 | 16 | 9 | 143.33 | NZ | ZIM | Bulawayo | August 24, 2005 |
| G Turner | 171 * | 201 | 16 | 2 | 85.07 | NZ | EA | Birmingham | June 7, 1975 |
| R Sharma | 171 * | 163 | 13 | 7 | 104.9 | IND | AUS | Perth | January 12, 2016 |
| A Hales | 171 | 122 | 22 | 4 | 140.16 | ENG | PAK | Nottingham | August 30, 2016 |
| L Ronchi | 170 * | 99 | 14 | 9 | 171.71 | NZ | SL | Dunedin | January 23, 2015 |
The innings is considered the best also because at one stage West Indies were slumped to 102-7 at one point and England were seeing tail and want to wrap up the game quickly. But Richards put up a partnership 59 runs with Eldine Baptiste for the 8th wicket.
Then Joel Gardner arrived to the crease and departed in quickly and West Indies score was 166 for the loss of 9 wickets. Which means Viv Richards left with the number 11 Michael Holding as the West Indies’ last remaining hopes. And the unlikely duo put on a 106-run partnership and contribution of the Holding was just 12 runs and they ended up innings by putting 272 on the board after losing 9 wickets. And it is also the highest tenth wicket partnership to date. West Indies went on to win the match by 104 runs.
Full Score Card (Source) : espncricinfo
List of Top 10 Partnerships for the tenth wicket in ODIs
| PARTNERS | RUNS | Team | OPP | VENUE | Match Date |
| V Richards, M Holding | 106* | WI | ENG | Manchester | 31-May-84 |
| Mohammad Amir, Saeed Ajmal | 103 | PAK | NZ | Abu Dhabi | 09-Nov-09 |
| R Rampaul, K Roach | 99* | WI | IND | Visakhapatnam | 02-Dec-11 |
| L Ronchi, M McClenaghan | 76 | NZ | SA | Mount Maunganui | 24-Oct-14 |
| Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir | 76 | PAK | ENG | Nottingham | 30-Aug-16 |
| L Ronchi, T Boult | 74 | NZ | SA | Mount Maunganui | 21-Oct-14 |
| Abdul Razzaq, Waqar Younis | 72 | PAK | SA | Durban | 03-Apr-98 |
| A Roberts, J Garner | 71 | WI | IND | Manchester | 09-Jun-83 |
| J Morkel, M Ntini | 67* | SA | NZ | Napier | 02-Mar-04 |
| J Kamande, P Ongondo | 66 | KEN | WI | Nairobi (Gym) | 18-Aug-01 |
Full List:
That is why this knock of Richards regarded as being the greatest limited-overs innings ever.
