New Zealand set South Africa a 363-run target in their Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal clash in Lahore on Wednesday.
Only twice have a total bigger than this been chased down in ODIs. Interestingly, South Africa was the winning team on the both of those occasions.
What is the highest successful chase in ODIs?
In 2006, South Africa hunted down Australia’s 434-run total in Johannesburg in a game which is considered to be one of the most iconic in the history of the format.
Powered by Ricky Ponting’s 164, the Aussies had posted what they thought was a match-winning total. But the Proteas shattered expectations to chase down the target with a ball and a wicket to spare. Herschelle Gibbs finished as the top scorer for South Africa with a whirlwind 175.
In 2016, South Africa repeated the trick by chasing down Australia’s 372-run target, in Durban. David Miller provided the match-winning performance on that occasion, scoring a back-to-the-wall 79-ball 118.
In 2023, in Harare, Netherlands managed to equal West Indies’ 374-run first-innings total, before clinching the match in the Super Over.
Earlier in Champions Trophy 2025, Australia had chased down a 352-run target — the highest successful chase in the tournament’s history — against England in Lahore in a group-stage fixture.