Matthew Hayden was a complete player as he aced all three formats of the game. His exploits in One-Day cricket are as illustrious as his Test career. He played 161 One-Day internationals for Australia scoring 6133 runs at an average of 43.80. Let’s take a look at the top 3 knocks of Hayden in ODI cricket.
#1. 181 vs New Zealand, 2007
Hayden scored his career-best figures in a high-scoring thrilling encounter in Hamilton. In the third match of the ODI series between Australia and New Zealand, the Kangaroos batted first and posted a humongous total of 346 in the first innings courtesy of a “daddy” hundred from Hayden who was assisted by Shane Watson with his half-century.
In the chase, Craig McMillan and Brendon McCullum played instrumental innings to help the Kiwis chase down this huge total with three balls to spare.
#2. 158 vs West Indies, 2007
Another big century from Hayden came the very next month in the same year, this time against West Indies in Antigua. This century holds more value as it was scored in the World Cup. It was a Super Eights encounter where Hayden stepped up for the Kangaroos and helped them overcome the West Indian challenge.
Australia scored 322 in the first innings and a large chunk of that was scored by Matthew Hayden with an impressive strike rate. The Aussies won the match comfortably as they restricted West Indies to 219 in the run chase.
#3. 146 vs Pakistan, 2002
Matthew Hayden showed his class against Pakistan in the Tri-Series tournament in Nairobi. Batting first, Australia absolutely outclassed the formidable Pakistan bowling attack and put them in trouble by scoring 332 in the first innings.
Hayden scored 146 runs in just 128 balls to blow Pakistan out of the contest. Right throughout the first innings, Hayden and Ponting proved to be a menace for Pakistan. In the end, Pakistan lost the match by a big margin as they were bowled out for 108 in the run chase.