Low scores in international cricket

Opening the gates of T20Is to virtually all countries who play a bit of cricket has had predictable results, particularly in women’s cricket:

These lists of lowest totals are correct on Dec 8, 2019:

Women’s T20Is:

Note the single-digit and near single-digit scores by Mali and the Maldives in the past few months. The men’s T20I teams have fared slightly better:

Men’s T20Is:

Note that these sub-50 scores include entries from major teams such as the West Indies.

Are things any better with ODIs and Tests, which still have considerable entry barriers? :

Women’s ODIs:

Well-established women’s teams have had their share of low scores.

There are even some sub-50 scores in men’s ODIs, mainly from minnow teams who were out of their depths in World Cup matches:

Men’s ODIs:

Take the cases of Canada (twice) and Namibia above in World Cup matches.

For comparison, we look at Test matches. There have been very limited Tests in women’s cricket:

Women’s Tests:

Mainly from the earlier days. Both England and Australia recorded their lowest scores in the same Test in 1958.

Men’s Tests:

While the majority of these low scores are from the times when South Africa were the whipping boys, there are some from the past few years (Ireland’s 38 in 2019, Bangladesh’s 43 in 2018). Not to forget Australia’s 47 in 2011, which needed Siddle and Lyon to reach this total from 21/9. It had a chance of lowering the mark of 26 set in 1955.

 

 

 

 

The new honors boards at Lord’s-3

Finally, we come to women’s matches at Lord’s.

Regarding women’s Tests at Lord’s, there is nothing to be said because there aren’t any. It is strange to see that 52 such Tests were played in England with none at Lord’s.

They have been played in some of the Test centres such as Birmingham, Nottingham and the Oval besides some other venues such as Wormsley (Bucks.) and Shenley (Herts.) which most English cricket fans would not have heard of.

So we move to ODIs:

A total of 15 women’s ODIs have been played at Lord’s, all of them involving England. Thus there are no neutral matches here.

Centuries in Women’s ODIs at Lord’s:

The “home” board would include nos 2,3 and 4 on this list.

The “visitors” board would include no 1.

And the “neutral” board would not be needed yet.

The best by an Indian player here is 94* by M Raj in the match on 1 Jul 2012. India won that match by 5 wickets.

The best against India is 156* by SC Taylor listed above. England won that match by 100 runs.

5-fors in Women’s ODIs at Lord’s:

This is an even shorter list.

The “home” board would include nos 2 and 3.

The “visitors” board would include no 1.

The best by an Indian player here is 4-61 by A Das in the match on I Jul 2012, in which M Raj scored the 94* mentioned above. That is the only one of  the 3 ODIs at Lord’s which was won by India. (Another one was washed out in 2014).

The best against India is 6-46 by A Shrubsole listed above. That was the final of the World Cup which England won by 9 runs.

 

 

 

Summary of the Women’s World Cup-3

More statistical highlights of the Women’s World Cup in 2017.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (6 and more):

The lesser-known S Verma of India has the most dismissals, catches by a keeper and stumpings. AJ Healy (Aus) and niece of a famous male keeper is next, while India’s J Goswami and NZ’s AE Satterthwaite  have the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most dismissals in an innings (3 and more):

While S Verma has 4 dismissals in an innings, several non-keepers have 3 catches.

Most dismissals per innings (minimum 6 innings fielded):

S Verma and AE Satterthwaite lead the keepers and non-keepers respectively.

All-round:

At least 6 innings batted and bowled, one 50 and one 4wi:

Only one such instance. Let us modify the criteria to

At least 6 innings batted and bowled, 100 runs and 5 wickets:

This gives a better idea of all-round performances throughout the tournament-though van Niekerk misses out here. EA Perry (Aus) leads here.

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

Only 2 cases, including one from the team which finished last.

Summary of the Women’s World Cup-2

Statistical highlights of the Women’s World Cup in 2017.

Batting:

Most runs (200 and above):

Highest innings (90 and above):

NR Sciver (Eng) is the only one with two centuries. But EA Perry (Aus) made 5 scores of 50+, though her top score was only 71. M Raj (Ind) and L Wolvaardt (SA) made 4 scores of 50+, while the latter also failed to score a century.

It is ironic that the highest score was made by a batter from a team which finished second from the bottom.

Highest averages (Minimum 6 innings, average 30 or more):

Highest strike rates (Minimum 6 innings, SR 80 or above):

The first name may be a surprise, as she was among the lesser-known players from her side until the later stages of this championship.

Bowling:

Most wickets (8 and above):

D van Niekerk (SA) is the only one to take more than one 4wi, including 4 for 0 which has never been achieved in men’s or women’s ODIs before.

The top two wicket-takers are engaged to be married. Once this takes place, they will be the first married couple to play in the same national cricket team. Not sure if this has happened in other sports.

Best innings bowling (including all 4wi):

Best bowling averages (Minimum 6 innings, average below 30):

van Niekerk has the best bowling average (as well as the best economy and strike rate).

To be continued

 

Summary of the Women’s World Cup-1

A full record of India’s participation in the Women’s World Cup cricket tournaments since 1973-which was 2 years before the men got going.

1973-did not take part

1978-4th out of 4

1982-4th out of 5

1988-did not take part

1993-4th out of 8 (no semifinals)

1997-lost in semis to Aus

2000-lost in semis to NZ

2005-lost in finals to Aus

2009-3rd place, beat Aus in playoff

2013-7th out of 8

2017-lost in final to Eng

These results can be seen in more detail here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Cricket_World_Cup#Teams.27_performances

 

 

 

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.