5th January 1971: When the first-ever one-day international was played

Australia and England played the first-ever one-day international on January 5, 1971.

When the third Test between Australia and England was washed out, the Australian cricket board decided to host a 40-over one-day international in Melbourne on January 5, 1971. Australian captain Bill Lawry won the toss and elected to field first against Ray Illingworth’s team.

File image of Ian Chappell. (Twitter)

England kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but opening batsman John Edrich stuck in and got a score of 82 from 119 balls. Spinners Ashley Mallett and Keith Stackpole were the pick of the bowlers for the home side with figures of 3/34 and 3/40 respectively. Fast bowler Graham McKenzie was the next best bowler with figures of 2/22.

Australia lost two early wickets before Ian Chappell (60*) and Doug Walters (41*) shared a partnership of 66 runs, which helped the team chase down the total in 35 overs with five wickets in hand.

Skipper Illingworth was England’s best bowler with figures of 3/50. Fast bowlers Ken Shuttleworth and Basil D’Oliveira picked up the other two wickets.

To the board’s surprise, 46,000 people were there in the stadium to watch the match. It was then the board realised that the one-day international format could be a big hit.

John Edrich bagged the first-ever ODI man of the match award.