A closer look at centuries in second innings of Tests

Note: All data correct as of April 15, 2018. The Test involving the ICC XI in 2005 is excluded.

We first look at the best averages in second innings:

Bradman is still at the top, with Kohli his nearest rival. SPD Smith, KS Williamson and JE Root are also among the current players who have done best in the second innings.

And those who scored the most centuries in the second innings (9 and above):

Tendulkar leads with 18, followed by Dravid and M Jayawardene (15 each) and the other long-haul men Kallis and Ponting with 14 each.

Now let see who disliked the second innings. These players made the most centuries without ever making one in the second innings:

G Gambhir, KJ Hughes and SP Fleming all scored a total of 9 centuries without any in the second innings.

Next is F du Plessis with 8. He may add to this.

Conversely, there are those who love batting in the second innings. Apart from Tendulkar and his companions at the top of the table, there are those who scored all their centuries in the second innings:

MJ Horne (NZ) and RT Simpson(Eng) scored all their 4 centuries in the second innings.

BA Edgar (NZ), Qasim Umar (Pak) and RG Sharma (Ind) similarly scored all their 3 centuries in the second innings.

Honourable mention to NCL O’Neill who scored 5 of his 6 centuries in the second innings.

To be continued with the third and fourth innings.

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Test captaincy and non-captaincy records

It is easy enough to get the full figures of Test captains from Statsguru:

Those who captained for 35 or more Tests:

And it is easy enough to find those who were non-captains in the most Tests:

Those who played 100 or more Tests as non-captains:

While Tendulkar, Kallis and Chanderpaul did captain their team in some Tests, there are others (starting with Warne) who never captained at all. We now take a closer look at this category:

Those who played 80 or more Tests without ever captaining their teams:

SK Warne leads here with 144, with JM Anderson and VVS Laxman as runners-up. The highest for other Test teams are:

Sri Lanka-132 (M Muralitharan)

South Africa-101 (M Ntini)

West Indies-98 (CEL Ambrose)

New Zealand-86 (Sir RJ Hadlee)

Pakistan-76 (Mudassar Nazar)

Zimbabwe-67 (GW Flower)

Bangladesh-40 (Javed Omar)

In a few cases (e.g. Warne) they led their country in a few ODIs. Sometimes even that consolation was not there.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are a small number who captained their team in all their Tests. There are various reasons for this-mainly because only amateurs were considered suitable to lead England until Hutton in the 1950s. In the West Indies, the captaincy was restricted to those of European ancestry for the first few decades.

In some cases (notably SA) most players were inexperienced in the early years and there was a rapid turnover of players as well as captains. And there were strange cases like the Maharajdhirajkumar of Vizianagram which Indian cricket fans would know about.

So here is the full list of 24 players who captained their side in all their Tests:

The leader here is the long-forgotten South African Percy Sherwell of the early 20th century:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/47186.html

Interestingly, he was a wicket keeper-one of the few who played more than a handful of Tests as captain until Dhoni came along.

The only  instance of “pure captains” in recent years was LK Germon of NZ in the mid-90s. He was also a wicket keeper. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37101.html

We also see James Lillywhite jnr of England who captained his side in the first 2 Tests ever played and never played another, CA Smith who played one Test but carved out a career in Hollywood and N Betancourt who seems to be here because at that time (in the West Indies) the captain had to be from the territory where the Test was played.

Tail piece: LK Germon does possess an odd record-he has scored the most runs on debut without scoring a fifty:

 

 

 

 

 

Review of India-Sri Lanka ODI series-Dec 2017

India won the series 2-1, thus ensuring that Sri Lanka had never won a bilateral ODI series in India. They had however beaten India twice on the way to their World Cup victory in 1996.

This summarizes all ODIs between these teams:

India enjoys a healthy 90-56 overall lead and a 36-12 lead for ODIs in India. It even leads 28-27 for ODIs in Sri Lanka.

We now look at individual performances:

Batting:

Most runs (750 runs and above):

Dhoni and Kohli have the most runs among current players. The most centuries are 8 by Tendulkar and Kohli and 7 by Jayasuriya. The most 50+ scores are 25 by Tendulkar and 24 by Sangakkara.

Highest innings (125 and above):

The only score from this series is Rohit Sharma’s 208*-but that is still not a record as he had scored 264 against the same team in 2014.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 35.00 and above):

Dhoni and Kohli have the highest averages among current players, followed by Mathews.

Highest batting strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, 75.00 and above):

Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have the best strike rates among current players, though Sehwag has a somewhat higher figure.

Now for bowling:

Most wickets (25 and above):

NLTC Perera has the most wickets by a current player, followed by  Mathews. Ashwin did not play in the last two series against SL, and Malinga also missed this series. RR Singh is the only one to take two five-fors, and BAW Medis the only one to take 4 four-fors.

Best innings bowling (including all cases of 6wi and above):

No instance from the current series.

Best bowling averages (minimum 1000 balls bowled, 30.00 and below):

Agarkar and Mendis have the best averages. Kapil and Harbhajan have the best economy rates, while Agarkar and I. Sharma have the best strike rates.

Now for fielding:

Most dismissals (20 and above):

Dhoni heads the list, while M Jayawardene has the most catches by a non-keeper. Note the dual roles of Sangakkara and Dravid.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and above):

Dhoni heads this list as well. Kaif has the most catches by a non-keeper. This was a World Cup record from 2003, until two others equaled it in 2015.

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.450 and above):

Dhoni is the table topper once more, while Kohli has the highest rate by a non-keeper.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Mathews scores the highest here, followed by IK Pathan at some distance. Others such as Kapil and Vaas did not play enough in this series.

Match performance (Minimum 40 runs and 4 wickets):

Ganguly’s performance is clearly the best.

 

 

Review of India-Sri Lanka Tests (Dec 2017)-1

At the close of the second India-Sri Lanka series of the year, India’s 1-0 lead with 2 draws brought the total number of Tests between these countries to 44. India lead 20-7 with 17 draws. In India, the hosts lead 11-0 with 9 draws. In Sri Lanka, India also leads 9-7 with 8 draws. Thus Sri Lanka has not yet won a Test in India in 20 Tests stretching back to 1982.

We first look at batting records:

Most runs (750 and above):

Kohli has the most runs among current players, followed by Mathews and Chandimal. The most centuries are 9 by Tendulkar and 6 by M Jayawardene. The most 50+ scores are by the same pair with 15 and 14 respectively.

Highest individual scores (175 and above):

From this series, Kohli is the only entrant with 243 and 213.

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all cases):

Mathews is the only current player here. Kohli and Chandimal have scored over 750 runs but have not crossed 20 innings yet.

Now for bowling.

Most wickets (25 and above):

Ashwin and Herath have the most wickets among current players.

Best innings bowling (6 wickets and above):

No entry from the current series, though N Pradeep has an appearance from the earlier 2017 series.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 9wm and above):

No entry from the recent series.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Ashwin and Kapil have the best averages from the above table. The best economy rates are by Chauhan and Kapil, and the best strike rates again by Ashwin and Kapil.

To be continued.

 

Review of ODIs between India and New Zealand-Oct 2017

At the end of the recent ODI series in India, India maintained its record of winning all bilateral series against New Zealand at home. To sum up:

India won 4-0 in 1988-89

3-2 in 1995-96

3-2 in 1999-00

4-0 in 2010-11

3-2 in 2016-17

and 2-1 in 2017-18

While both this year’s and last year’s series were decided in the final match, this series was more closely contested.

This series finished with 101 ODIs being played between these teams.

India has a healthy 51-44 lead over New Zealand. Both teams have a major home advantage, but have won exactly the same number of matches (15-15) on neutral grounds.

Coming to individual performances:

Batting: 500 runs or more:

While Tendulkar is far ahead of everyone else, Kohli is rapidly moving up followed at some distance by Taylor. A few other current players are also seen in the table above.

The most centuries are 6 by Sehwag, with Astle, Kohli and Tendulkar on 5.

The most scores of 50+ are 13 by Tendulkar followed by 11 by Kohli and 10 by Astle.

Highest individual scores (110 or more):

RG Sharma made the highest score in this series.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

While Sehwag leads with Dhoni some distance behind, we may note that several current players including Kohli, RG Sharma and Williamson have not completed 20 innings yet. Kohli will move to the top after he completes one more innings.

Batting strike rate (Minimum 500 balls, all instances):

Kohli does qualify here, and is after Sehwag and Kapil.

We now move to bowling.

20 or more wickets:

Srinath is far ahead of the others. Southee is the only current player here.

Srikkanth (!) is the only one with two fivers although he does not appear above. But see the next table:

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

No major bowling feat in this series. Srikkanth’s two fivers can be seen here.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls, all instances):

Srinath has the best average, while Hadlee has the best economy rate and Srinath again the best strike rate. Current players have not bowled enough.

Now for fielding.

12 or more dismissals:

Mongia has the most dismissals and the most stumpings, although McCullum has more catches as a keeper than Mongia. Fleming (18) and Taylor (16) have the most dismissals. Dhoni and Taylor are the current players here.

Best innings fielding (4 or more dismissals):

Four keepers (including McCullum twice) have taken 5 dismissals. 4 fielders have taken 4 catches apiece.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.400):

Mongia again, with Dhoni and Taylor among current players. Taylor also has the highest rate among non-keepers. Dravid has played as a fielder as well as a keeper.

All-round performance (see criteria in table):

Only the “bits-and-pieces” player CZ Harris appears here. The well-known all-rounders Kapil and Hadlee did not play enough.

All-round match performance (30 runs and 3 wickets):

Several more instances here, with the unlikely hero Srikkanth having the only instance of a fifty and fiver in the same match. Other good performances are by Cairns, Astle and YK Pathan, while the more established Hadlee and Cairns (jr) also appear here.

Footnote: After this series India and New Zealand play 3 T20Is in a series starting from Nov 1. This is an entirely different matter as New Zealand have won all 5 of these matches they have played against India-even when India won the inaugural World Championship in 2007.

 

 

 

 

When India held over half the ODI partnership records

At the turn of the century, Indian batsmen held more than half the ODI partnership records. To be precise, the partnerships for the first five wickets plus the 9th wicket.

On 31 December, 1999, these were the partnership records for ODIs:

1st: SC Ganguly and SR Tendulkar, 252 vs SL, Colombo (Premadasa), 07/07/1998

2nd: SR Tendulkar and R Dravid, 331 vs NZ, Hyderabad (Deccan), 08/11/1999

3rd: R Dravid and SR Tendulkar, 237* v Ken, Bristol, 23/05/1999

4th: M Azharuddin and A Jadeja, 275* v Zim, Cuttack, 09/04/1998

5th: M Azharuddin and A Jadeja, 223 v SL, Colombo (Premadasa), 17/08/1997

The other record ODI partnerships on that date were:

6th: MO Odumbe and AV Vadher, 161, Ken v SL, Southampton, 30/05/1999

7th: TM Odoyo and AO Suji, Ken v Zim, 119, Nairobi (Aga), 16/10/1997

8th: PR Reiffel and SK Warne, 160, Aus v SA, Port Elizabeth, 04/04/1994

9th: Kapil Dev and SMH Kirmani, 126*, Ind v Zim, Tunbridge Wells, 18/06/1983

10th: IVA Richards and MA Holding, 106*, WI v Eng, Manchester, 31/05/1984

Note that the 4th and 10th wicket records mentioned above are still the world ODI records at the time of writing (29/10/2017).

Review of Australia-India ODIs, Oct 2017

With India’s 4-1 victory, they became No 1 in the ICC rankings for ODIs, while they had already held the No 1 position in Tests:

This was India’s best victory in a bilateral ODI series against Australia. Here are the results of the past few series:

2009-10 in Ind: Aus won 4-2

2010-11 in Ind: Aus won 1-0

2013-14 in Ind: Ind won 3-2

2015-16 in Aus: Aus won 4-1

2017-18 in Ind: Ind won 4-1.

Here is a summary of all ODIs between the two countries:

Australia enjoys a healthy 73-45 lead in all ODIs against India. For matches in India, Australia lead only 26-25. Oddly enough there are no tied matches here, although these teams have played in one of the only two tied Tests.

Moving on to individual records-Batting:

Most runs (750 and above):

The most centuries are 9 by Tendulkar, followed by 6 by Ponting and RG Sharma.

The most 50+ scores are 24 by Tendulkar, followed by 15 by Ponting.

RG Sharma and Dhoni have the most runs among current players, while Kohli is catching up.

Highest innings scores (125 and above):

RG Sharma dominates the higher positions. And he made the highest score of this series, 125, which is at the bottom of this list.

Highest batting averages (minimum 20 innings, 35.00):

RG Sharma leads the next in line, Hayden and Kohli, by a large margin. Dhoni is the only other current player in this list.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 500 balls, 80.00):

The highest strike rate is by GJ Bailey, with Dhawan and several others bunched around the 100 mark. Those who played in the current series include SPD Smith, RG Sharma, Warner, Kohli and Finch. It is interesting to see that Rahane’s strike rate is a little higher than Dhoni’s.

Now for Bowling:

Most wickets (25 and above):

Lee leads the table. No bowlers from the current series make the cut here, though MG Johnson and I Sharma of recent teams are here.

Lee took four 5-fors.No one else took more than one.

Lee also has the most 4-fors (4), followed by Agarkar and MG Johnson with 3.

Best innings bowling (including all five-fors):

This is topped by two relatively unknown players followed by Agarkar and Starc. The current series did not see any good wicket-taking performances, with UT Yadav’s 4-71 being the best.

Bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled,35.00):

Lee is again far ahead of the next bowler. No current bowlers are seen here.

The best averages are by Lee and Johnson. the best economy rates are by Kapil and Shastri and the best strike rates are by Lee and Agarkar.

Now for Fielding:

Most dismissals (minimum 15):

No surprises among the first two, while Wade and Kohli make up the current players. Tendulkar has the highest for non-keepers (31), followed at some distance by Azharuddin and Ponting with 18. Dhoni has the most stumpings. Dravid had played both as a keeper and non-keeper.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and above):

Gilchrist has the most dismissals, while Clarke has the most catches as a non-keeper. Nothing from the current series.

Highest dismissal rates (Minimum 20 innings, 0.450):

No surprises in the first two places, while DM Jones has the best dismissal rate among the non-keepers. Dhoni and Kohli are the only current players.

All-round performances:

Overall performances (see criteria in table):

Somewhat oddly, the first 3 places go to batsmen who occasionally bowled, while two better-known all-rounders make up the rear.

All-round match performances (Minimum 30 runs and 3 wickets):

The best performances would be those of Tendulkar, Kapil and Watson (Hyderabad). Also note one of Azharuddin’s rare bowling performances.

We are not done with Australia yet, as the T20I series is still to come. See the past records here:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/01/31/summary-of-t20is-between-australia-and-india/