MS Dhoni (India) – 183* against Sri Lanka at Jaipur on 31st October 2005
It was third game of the seven-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka in India, where the hosts were already leading the series by the 2-0 margin. After the visitors decided to bat first, the opening batsman Kumar Sangakkara’s 138* and Mahela Jayawardene’s 71 runs helped the Sri Lankan team to manage the total of 298/4 (50 overs).
In reply, India lost their opener Sachin Tendulkar (2) in the very first over, which forced the wicket-keeper batsman, MS Dhoni, to come in the crease very early. Building up the solid partnerships, Dhoni was getting stronger and bringing the team closer to the victory. During that innings, Dhoni had the partnerships of 92 runs with another opener Virender Sehwag (2nd wicket), 86 runs with Rahul Dravid (3rd wicket), 65 runs with Yuvraj Singh (4th wicket) and unbroken 53 runs with Venugopal Rao (5th wicket).
Completing his century in 85 balls, Dhoni stretched his knock and remained not out on 183 runs off 145 balls (15 fours and 10 sixes). At that time, it was the highest individual knock in the second innings of an ODI match. His batting massively helped the hosts to chase down the target in 46.1 overs after losing four wickets.