More batting feats on Test debut

In the past few posts we have looked at those who scored a century on debut and never scored another century. In some cases they did not even score a fifty. Here we look at some other points of interest:

Most runs on debut without a century (112 and more):

The first one is not so well known, and his 92 on debut remained his highest Test score in his 21 Tests: https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/bruce-laird-6250

The second, Clive Lloyd, scored many centuries and was one of the most successful batsmen and captains of the West Indies.

Fakhar Zaman is the most recent to do so (in 2018) but has played only 3 Tests with a highest score of 94.

There are many other famous names such as SM Gavaskar (highest score by an Indian player) and FM Worrell.

Not everyone here scored two fifties on debut. There are several with 95+ scores, the highest being 98 by AC Agar for Aus in 2013. This is the highest Test score by any No 11 batsman.

There are a mixture of well-known and not so well-known players here.

Similarly, we look at cases of

Most runs on debut without a 50-plus score

Led by Lee Germon (89) who became one the very few recent players to captain his team on debut. Ultimately he scored one fifty in his 12 Tests.

Most of the players here are lesser-known. In recent years S Muthusamy was unbeaten in both innings. (However, the record for two unbeaten innings on debut is 128* and 50* by Azhar Mahmood in 1997.

The best for India is 80 (45 and 35*) by Shubham Gill in 2020. Earlier the best for India was 74 (33 and 41) by Murali Vijay in 2008.

One more list we look at is

Most runs on debut with a century and a fifty:

The highest instance is 216 by Ranjitsinhji, who was also the first to score a century and 50+ on debut. The most recent is 170 by Shreyas Iyer in 2021. He is the only Indian player to achieve this.

RE Redmond would be known by anyone familiar with cricket trivia. After Ranji we have Umar Akmal (204), CG Greenidge (200) and PA Gibb (199). F du Plessis is another from recent times.

ODI statistics for 2021- Part 1

2021 had relatively fewer ODIs than in recent years. Covid cancellations played their part, and many teams gave priority to T20Is because of the World Cup late in the year. (But that will happen in 2022 as well). Anyway, we summarize whatever information is available for ODIs in the calendar year 2021.

Team performances:

Considering teams which have played at least 10 matches, the best W/L ratios are by Bangladesh and Oman followed by South Africa. Teams such as New Zealand, England, Australia and India played less than 10 matches.

Batting:

Most runs (250 and above):

As you may guess, the most runs were played by someone from a minor team: PR Stirling of Ireland with 706. Next is JN Malan of SA with 509. India has one representative here in S Dhawan (297).

The most centuries are 3 by PR Stirling, and 2 by 3 others.

The most 50+ scores are 5 by Stirling (again) and Tamim Iqbal.

Highest individual scores (100 and above):

The top scores (above 150) are 193 by Fakhar Zaman, 177* by JN Malan, 173* by JS Malhotra (USA) and 158 by Babar Azam. The best for India is 108 by KL Rahul.

There is not enough data (minimum 20 innings) for batting averages. However, we have something for Strike Rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, all instances):

JN Malan’s 90+ SR is considerably higher than the next (Stirling yet again).

To be continued.

Highest scores in losing ODI chases

Fakhar Zaman made 193 in a losing ODI chase, thus making a new record.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/pakistan-tour-of-south-africa-2021-1251556/south-africa-vs-pakistan-2nd-odi-1251573/full-scorecard

Here we look at the record high scores in unsuccessful ODI chases:

Until now the record was 175 by Tendulkar against Australia in 2009. Oddly enough, the previous highest score in this category for Pakistan was ALSO by Fakhar Zaman (138 v Eng in 2019).

From the above table you can see that India is well represented.

For India alone, the highest scores in unsuccessful ODI chases are:

The Test debutants of 2018

The last of a series of reviews of Test cricket in 2018. Here we identify the good performances on Test debut.

Batting:

40 runs or more in an innings:

3 centuries headed by PP Shaw, and numerous other 50s.

There are several instances of 40+ in both innings, with Fakhar Zaman with 50+ in both innings. This will be seen more clearly here:

80 runs or more in match:

Fakhar Zaman’s 160 shares the second place among those who made two scores between 50 and 99 on debut.

The most is by the lesser-known BM Laird with 167 (Aus v WI, 1979-80) followed by CH Lloyd with 160 (WI v Ind, 1966-67).

Bowling:

3 or more wickets in an innings:

5 instances of fivers, led by Bilal Asif and L Ngidi. Vihari and Bumrah took 3-fors for India. Ireland has TJ Murtagh and SR Thompson in their debut Test, while Yamin Ahmadzai represents Afghanistan on their debut.

6 or more wickets in match:

Dananjaya’s 8-44 is the best for Sri Lanka on debut. The previous record was 8-132 by BAW Mendis (SL v Ind, 2008). Ireland has TJ Murtagh in their debut Test. Bilal Asif took 6 in the first innings and none in the second.

Fielding:

2 or more dismissals in an innings:

RR Pant leads here. His 5 dismissals equaled the record for India, though Yajurvindra Singh was a non-keeper. 3 Indian keepers made 4 dismissals in an innings on debut, all in the 1950s.

3 or more dismissals in a match:

RR Pant leads again with 7 dismissals. No one else has more than 3. MA Agarwal is one of those who took 3 as a non-keeper

Pant’s 7 dismissals equaled the Indian record with non-keeper Yajurvindra Singh. Several Indian keepers took 5 on debut, along with non-keepers RR Singh (only Test) and SS Das.

All-round performances:

30 runs and 3 wickets in match:

3 instances, with probably SR Thompson’s being the best.

30 runs and 3 dismissals:

3 instances, with Foakes being the only keeper and MA Agarwal having the best by a non-keeper. Also note MS Harris’s 26 and 26.

ODIs of 2018-1

The ODIs of the year are over, and we review team and individual performances here:

First, the ICC rankings at the end of the year:

It can be seen that the 10 teams participating in the 2019 World Cup are the top 10 here.

This table includes matches in the past 2-3 years. Nepal has ODI status but has not played enough matches to get a ranking.

Here we look at W/L ratios. This and all subsequent tables refer to performances in the calendar year 2018.

Teams ranked by W/L ratio

Guess who finished last 🙂

And guess who played the most matches.

Of course, this table does not mean much as it does not take into account the opponent’s strength, which the ICC rankings are supposed to.

We now move to individual performances, starting with

Batting:

500 or more runs:

Also note that Kohli (6) and RG Sharma (5) have the most centuries, while Kohli (9) also has the most fifties followed by RG Sharma, Root and Fakhar Zaman with 8.

Innings scores of 125 or more:

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

You might expect Kohli, Sharma and a few others to be here but they did not play enough innings. However, they appear below:

Highest strike rates (Minimum 80.00 for a minimum of 500 balls faced):

Note that England has the two top spots, while India also has a few with strike rates above 100.

To be continued.

Two fifties on debut

Centuries on debut are well documented. Here we look at those who made two fifties (between 50 and 99) on debut, and then those who scored two scores of 50+ on debut.

Fakhar Zaman with 160 runs is in joint second place here with Clive Lloyd while the list is headed by the lesser-known Bruce Laird.

Gavaskar and Dilawar represent India, while there are current and near-current players such as Tamim Iqbal, Chandimal, Henriques and Pietersen.

GC Grant is the only one with two unbeaten fifties on debut.

There are, of course, numerous cases of one fifty and one hundred on debut, and even two cases of two hundreds on debut (LG Rowe and Yasir Hameed).

Here are the complete list of those who scored two scores of 50+ on debut.

Azhar Mahmood is the only one with an unbeaten 100 and an unbeaten 50.