Flashback: The first-ever ODI century
The first-ever one-day international was played 51 years back in 1971 between Australia and England in Melbourne. The format witnessed its first-ever centurion the following year in 1972 when former England player Dennis Amiss struck a hundred against rivals Australia in Manchester. He was also the cricketer to hit the second ton in the format.
Amiss, the right-handed batter, achieved the feat and entered into the record books after his appearance in the first of the three ODIs at Old Trafford in Manchester in August 1972. The Aussies batted first and posted 222/8 in their allotted 55 overs. Amiss opened the innings with Geoffrey Boycott and smacked 103 off 134 with the help of nine fours. The hosts reached the target in 49.1 overs with six wickets in hand. The home side took a lead of 1-0 in the series thanks to a century from Amiss and a half-century from Keith Fletcher.
Amiss went on to play just 18 ODI matches and scored 859 runs at an average of 47.72 and a strike rate of 72.48 with four centuries and one half-century and the highest score of 137. Dennis struck the second century of the format when he scored 100 off 121 against New Zealand in Swansea in Wales only a year later, in July 1973.
Born on April 07, 1943, in Birmingham, Warwickshire, Amiss has also played 404 List A games in which he has scored 12519 runs at an average of 35.06. In 391 innings, he smacked 15 hundreds and 77 fifties with the highest score of 137. His other two centuries came against India at Lord’s in the 1975 World Cup and against the Aussies at The Oval in June 1977.
