Best bowling figures in defeats

Keshav Maharaj’s 9-129 and match figures of 12-283 (along with Theunis de Bruyn’s maiden century) were South Africa’s only saving grace in their loss in the second Test at Colombo (SSC). We now look at the best bowling figures by losing teams in Tests.

Best innings bowling in defeats (including all instances of 8wi and above):

Maharaj’s 9-129 is the fourth-best performance here in a list headed by Kapil Dev’s 9-69. It may be recalled that Noreiga’s 9-95 is the best for WI in all Tests, and that it came in India’s first Test win over the West Indies.

The previous best for South Africa was Hugh Tayfield’s 7-23 in 1950, which can also be seen above.

Valentine and Krejza were making their debuts. Krezja played only in one more Test. Valentine made his debut with Ramadhin, and the two ensured that England lost the remaining 3 Tests of the series.

Best match bowling in defeats (including all instances of 11wm and above):

Here Maharaj’s 12-283 is somewhat down the list which is headed by Srinath’s 13-132 in 1999. The previous best for South Africa was AE Hall’s 11-112 in 1923, which can also be seen above.

Krejza, Hall, Burke and Valentine were making their debuts. Only Valentine got an extended run.

ABD: career statistics highlights-3

We close by looking at statistics for World Cup matches alone, since a fair number of high scoring rates mentioned earlier were in relatively less important or highly one-sided matches. Perhaps this would give a better idea of performance in more important matches. Perhaps the Champions Trophy matches could also be added.

We start with the highest averages in World Cup matches (minimum 20 innings):

de Villiers heads this list although MJ Clarke and IVA Richards are just behind.

Now we look as

Highest strike rates in World Cup matches (minimum 500 balls faced):

Here we have McCullum followed by de Villiers and Kapil.

Then there are links in Cricinfo’s records section for Fastest centuries in ODIs:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/211608.html

That link is constantly updated. This is what it looked like on 26/05/2018:

Note that it took over 17 years to move from Afridi’s 37-ball effort in 1996 to Anderson’s improvement to 36 balls in 2014. But de Villiers lowered the bar to 31 balls a year later.

For World Cup matches alone, the best efforts are  50 balls by KJ O’Brien in 2011, 51 by GJ Maxwell in 2015 and de Villiers  again with 52 balls in 2015.

Similarly there is a link for the fastest 50. Like in the table above, it refers to the first 50 runs in the innings although the number of balls for the second or later 50 runs may be quite different.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284095.html

This is what it looked like on 25/05/2018:

The record had been stuck at Jayasuriya’s 17 balls since 1996. de Villiers lowered it to 16 balls after almost 19 years. After that Kusal Perera and Guptill also equalled the old 17-ball record.

In World Cup matches, the fastest 50s have been in  18 balls by McCullum (2015), 19 by Mc Cullum again in 2015 and  20 by AD Mathews also in 2015.

 

ABD: career statistics highlights-2

We have already had a look at ABD’s Test figures. He did not do too well in T20Is. But he really came into his own in fast scoring in ODIs. His highest score there was 176. First we look at his career strike rate.

(In all the tables in this post, matches involving multi-national teams such as ICC XI, Africa XI and Asia XI have been disregarded.)

ODI career strike rate (minimum 20 innings):

Here ABD is relatively lower down, as many batsmen with less matches have scored faster. But his batting average of 54.17 is much higher than that of the likes of Maxwell and Russell.

A better comparison will be with those with longer careers:

ODI career strike rate (minimum 200 innings):

Here he is third, after Afridi and Sehwag. Here, too, his career batting average of 54.17 is considerably higher than that of those with higher strike rates. Kohli with a batting average of 58.10 has a somewhat lower strike rate.

We now go on to innings strike rates in ODIs. While ABD’s top score was 176, we start with the 200+ scores as a comparison.

Strike rates for scores above 200 in ODIs:

There have been only 7 instances of ODI double centuries so far, with 5 by Indian batsmen including 3 by RG Sharma. Gayle and Guptill made their scores in the 2015 World Cup. Sharma and Sehwag have the highest strike rates here.

Next we look at

Strike rates for scores above 150 in ODIs:

Here ABD has by far the highest strike rate in his 162*, which against the West Indies in the 2015 World Cup.

Next we have

Strike rates for scores above 100 in ODIs:

Here, ABD is the clear leader with his 149 against the West Indies, in the runup to the 2015 World Cup. His 162* mentioned above is also here, as are a few other centuries.

Next there is

Strike rates for scores above 50 in ODIs:

ABD still leads with the 149 mentioned above. For scores between 50 and 99, the best strike rates are by the NZ pair of Guptill and McCullum.

But it is an unique distinction that ABD has the best strike rates for 50+, 100+ and 150+ in ODIs.

Finally, we look at

Strike rates for scores above 25 in ODIs:

Here, the top two positions are held by two New Zealand players (including BB McCullum’s lesser known brother) with scores in the 30s. But ABD is still there at the third spot.

A little more wrapping up of high strike rates in ODIs will be done in another post.

 

 

 

 

 

ABD: career statistics highlights-1

By now the media is in overdrive recounting the highlights of his career. I am not trying to repeat that, but concentrating on a few of his more outstanding (or more peculiar) performances.

For an overview the most logical place to go is:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/44936.html

He has a very respectable Test batting average above 50 along with 22 centuries.

The highlight of his Test career was probably not his 278* but what is arguably the best all-round performance by a Test wicket-keeper:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284278.html

It can be seen that he is the only wicket-keeper to score a century and to make 10 dismissals in an innings. This is made more clear here:

In fact, he shares the record for most dismissals in a Test with Jack Russell:

Note WP Saha in this table. Also that 3 of the 5 instances were in South Africa and that the two best performances were at Johannesburg.

His best in an innings is 6, while the record is 7 shared by Wasim Bari, Bob Taylor, IDS Smith and RD Jacobs.

However, he also had some low lights in Tests-being one of the few to get a “queen pair” – out second ball in each inning. And he is also one of the few to get a pair as a captain. He and tailender BS Bedi are the only captains to get a queen pair.

However, it is in the realm of strike rates in ODI matches that he is in a class by himself. That will be the next post.

 

Review of South Africa-Zimbabwe Tests

A summary of all Tests between these countries:

SA has won 8 out of 9 Tests, including all 4 played at home and 4 out of 5 played away. Zimbabwe’s best performance can thus be said to be the Test at Bulawayo starting on 14 Sep 2001 (just after 9/11!) which was drawn.

We quickly go through the main individual performances:

Most runs (200 and above):

Andy Flower’s performance in a weak team is particularly creditable. He and Kallis are the only ones with more than one century.

Highest innings scores (90 and above):

Andy Flower again, highlighting his lone battle with 142 and 199* in a losing cause.

Most wickets (8 and above):

The first three names are no surprise. Zimbabwe bowlers hardly figure here, particularly since their team sustained several innings defeats.

Best innings bowling (including all 5wi and above):

Donald’s performance in the first Test between these teams remains unsurpassed. And Bryan Strang’s performance in the same Test is still a record for Zimbabwe.

Best match bowling (6wm and above):

As above, Donald’s record stands since 1995. And no Zimbabwe bowler appears here (again, because of the numerous innings defeats).

Most dismissals (5 and above):

As one would expect. Interestingly four non-keepers share the record of 5 catches.

Best innings fielding (3 or more dismissals):

As expected, though Sibanda’s presence as the lone Zimbabwe player is strange.

Best match fielding (4 or more dismissals):

Note the absence of any Zimbabwe players here, and GC Smith’s record among non-keepers.

Overall all-round performance (see criteria below):

The best all-rounder on both sides, while Pollock and Streak did not play enough in these matches.

All-round match performance (50+ runs and 5+ wickets):

There is no instance of 50+5wi in these matches, so the criterion is reduced to 50 runs and 5 wickets in the match. Here again it is Kallis all the way with Pollock playing a minor role.

 

 

More about the honors boards at Lord’s-1

The feats of scoring a century, five wickets in an innings and ten wickets in a match in Test matches are documented on the boards at Lord’s. There are separate sets of boards for the home team (England), visiting teams and (more recently) teams in neutral Tests.

A total of 135 Tests have been played at Lord’s from 1884 to 2017. 133 involved England and only 2 were neutral. They were: Aus v SA in 1912 as part of the Triangular Tournament, and Aus v Pak in 2010.

3 Tests (including one neutral Test) were played in 1912 and 2010. From 1928 onwards (except in 1940-45) Lord’s has always had at least one Test. When England started hosting two visiting teams in 1965 (starting with NZ and SA) Lord’s always had a Test for each side. Since 2000 there have always been two teams and thus two Tests at Lord’s, except in 2010 when there were three.

Neutral Tests at Lord’s:

We first look at the scanty entries on the boards for neutral Tests:

Centuries:

Two from 1912 and none from 2010.

Five wickets in an innings:

In contrast, there are two from 2010 and none from 1912. Watson and North recorded their first five-fors. In North’s case, he was an occasional bowler and this was his only five-for in Tests.

Ten wickets in an innings:

No instance. The two best match bowling figures are 6-55 by MJ North (as above) and 6-140 by Pakistan’s Mohammed Asif in the same match.

To be continued:

 

 

Another landmark for Moeen Ali

Perhaps Moeen Ali shaving his head made some difference (apart from being mistaken for Hashim Amla at a distance). In the first Test of the current series against South Africa he became one of the relatively few (25) to score a fifty and 10 wickets in the same match (Sir Richard Hadlee did so 3 times, while a false knight of the present also appears here):

He also became part of a select group of 40 to have scored both a century and a ten-for in Tests. Only IT Botham, Imran Khan and Shakib Al Hasan achieved this in the same Test.

In the third Test, he finished the match with a hat-trick. This was the 43rd hat-trick in Tests and he became the 39th player to achieve this. H Trumble, TJ Matthews, Wasim Akram and SCB Broad took two hat-tricks apiece. The updated list of hat-tricks:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/136977.html

Finally, he joined a rather short list of 7 players who have scored a century and taken a hat-trick in Tests. Of these, Sohag Gazi is the only one to do so in the same Test-though he vanished from the international scene quite rapidly.

1. J Briggs
2. Wasim Akram
3. Harbhajan Singh
4. IK Pathan
5. SCJ Broad
6. Sohag Gazi
7. MM Ali

Of these, 6 of them (i.e. excluding Sohag Gazi) have scored a century, taken a ten-for AND a hat-trick in Tests.

Four wickets for none

The bowling record of four wickets for no run in any international cricket match occurred recently:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-womens-world-cup-2017/engine/match/1085956.html

where SA’s captain Dane van Niekerk was instrumental in dismissing the West Indies team of 48 in an ODI in the Women’s World Cup.

There have been many cheap 4-wicket hauls in women’s ODIs:

Most of the names would be quite unfamiliar to male cricket followers. The previous record of 4 wickets for 1 run was held by an Indian bowler in an ODI against South Africa in the 2005 World Cup.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/67380.html

And few of us would have heard of the record holder Deepa Marathe .

We now look at the corresponding records for 4-wicket hauls in men’s ODIs:

The record was 4 for 3 by PV Simmons. It is interesting to note that the first few names (Simmons, Dilshan, Yuvraj and Sehwag) were all primarily batsmen whose bowling was secondary.

However, 4 for 0 has been recorded several times in first-class cricket. Bowlers who have achieved this include Lala Amarnath and, more recently, Axar Patel in 2015. More about this here:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/axar-patels-feat-4-wickets-for-none-3/

This also gives details of the best 4-wicket analyses in Tests, headed by the unlikely AG Cremer of Zimbabwe.