#OTD in 1999 | Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid stitched the first-ever 300+ run stand in ODIs

On this day in 1999, Indian batting stalwarts Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid etched their names in history by putting up a first-ever stand of 300+ runs in ODIs. They claimed this unique feat in a group fixture against Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup at Taunton. 

Ahead of this fixture, India had just one win in three appearances and was in desperate need of a win to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the Super 6 stage. On the other hand, Sri Lanka also had the same criteria to progress into the next stage. 

Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga invited India to bat first. Left-handed opener Sadagoppan Ramesh hit a boundary in the fourth ball of the innings but was undone by a peach of a delivery from Chaminda Vaas, which took his off stump in the subsequent ball. 

After that, Ganguly and Dravid played cautiously but hit the loose deliveries away, especially the ball at their legs. They were impressive to time the ball well against Vaas and hit multiple boundaries in his fourth and fifth over of the spell. 

At the 10-over mark, India was at a commanding position with 70+ runs on the board. In the 15th over of the innings, Dravid brought up his half-century off just 43 balls. In the 23rd over, Ganguly completed his fifty in 68 balls. 

A couple of overs later, Muttiah Muralitharan missed the run-out chance of Ganguly, which could have turned the tables in their favour. 

With their eyes set on the pitch, both the batters scored consistent boundaries all around the park. Then, in the 36th over, Dravid scored his 5th ODI century off 102 balls. Three overs later, Ganguly hit his 7th century in the 50-overs format. ‘Dada’ often charged against Muralitharan to hit him sixes on the mid-on and straight boundaries. On the other hand, 'Mr. Dependable' made good use of the pacers to accelerate the run rate. 

In the 46th over, Muralitharan dropped Ganguly's catch at long-on, but darted an accurate throw to run-out Dravid for a well-made 145 off 129 balls, with 17 fours and a single six. 

After the mammoth partnership, the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Jadeja, and Robin Singh could not trouble the scorers. In the last over of the innings, Ganguly holed out to substitute fielder Upul Chandana in the long-off boundary off Pramodya Wickramasinghe. He scored 183 off 158 balls, comprising 17 fours and seven sixes, as the Indian team posted a humongous 373 on the board. 

In reply, Aravinda de Silva (56) and Arjuna Ranatunga (42) were the only notable contributors for Sri Lanka, as they fell short by 157 runs. All-rounder Singh picked up a five-wicket haul in the same match. 

After this victory, the Indian team won against England and sealed the place in the Super-6 stage. However, the team could not feature in the semi-finals.