The fastest micro-innings batting

As we have seen here https://abn397.wordpress.com/2019/10/20/umesh-yadavs-batting-record/

The fastest score of 25+ was 31/10 balls, with a strike rate of 310.00

For 50+, it is 54/25 balls and 216.00

For 100+, it is 110*/58 balls and 189.65

Now let use see about the highest strike rates for innings lasting for one to six balls.

There is no record of anyone scoring more than a zero off zero balls, though it may be theoretically possible under some obscure rule.

Here you have only 0* and 0, the latter being diamond ducks.

Now for 1-ball innings:

There is only one such innings involving a six, and it is fittingly by Jayasuriya with an SR of 600. Next is Ishant Sharma with 5 (a single plus 4 overthrows) and 500. Then there are those who scored a 4 or 3 off one ball. Ishant Sharma appears again. At least half of the batsmen here are tailenders. Even the famous batsman CS Martin has scored 4 off one ball! So has NM Lyon.

2-ball innings:

There are four batsmen (all tailenders) who have made 7 off two balls. They would have made a 6 and a single, apart from Muralitharan who made a 4 and a 3. Then there are 6s and 5s. Here we do not meet a recognized batsman until Sir Richard Hadlee (?) and AL Logie. The only current players are Wafadar of Afghanistan and India’s Mohammed Shami.

3-ball innings:

The highest off 3 balls is 12* by Misbah, including two sixes and a dot. Murali has 6,4 and dot while Shami has two fours and a two. Others have made 6 runs with one four. Muralitharan appears three times here. The proportion of recognized batsmen is more here, including current players Mushfiqur and Malan along with Shami.

4-ball innings:

The maximum here is 12, either by 3 fours (de Villiers and Warner) or 2 sixes (Henry). Warner, Henry and M Marsh represent the current players.

5-ball innings:

The best here is by Southee (another expert tailend slogger) with 3 sixes in his 20. He has also made 13 to be in second place with Pietersen.

6-ball innings:

The highest here is 17* which is less than the 20 in 5 balls. Ntini made his 16* with 4 fours. KMA Paul’s 12 included 3 fours.

Having come so far, we can also see

Most successive sixes:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284014.html

Kapil’s 4 successive sixes came when averting the follow-on with No 11 at the other end. The No 11 (Hirwani) was out just after the follow-on was averted. There are numerous current players here (such as Southee) besides old-timers such as Hammond.

And finally,

Most successive fours:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284011.html

All 6 balls by Jayasuriya, Sarwan and Gayle (although Sarwan had a no-ball interspersed after 4 sixes. DW Hookes hit 5 fours on his debut, which came in the Centenary Test of 1977. So did RE Redmond, a staple of quiz questions.

When the tail wagged (Aug 2019)

In the ongoing Test at Kingston, India registered a somewhat rare triumph of a fifty at No 9 along with a century partnership.

Fifty plus by No 9 batsmen from India:

Ishant Sharma’s 57 is a little below the middle. There are several Indians above him, led by J Yadav who vanished as quickly as he got into the team. Even a century at no 9 does not help.

Century partnership for the 8th wicket by India:

Again, the partnership of 112 by Vihari and Ishant is a little below the middle. There is one against WI a little higher (120* by Dravid and Sarandeep in 2002).

For the sake of comparison, we also look at:

Fifty plus at No 9 against the West Indies:

Here, too, Ishant is a bit lower than the middle. The highest for India is 79 by Kunderan in 1966-67. The highest for India in the West Indies is 68 by BS Sandhu. Oddly enough, Sandhu’s 71 against Pakistan in 1982-83 is the best on debut by a No 9 in all Tests.

Century partnerships for the 8th wicket against the West Indies:

The Vihari – Sharma partnership is the 8th highest here, while the 120* by Dravid and Sarandeep is the 6th highest. The highest partnership of 217 was part of one of the more remarkable comebacks in all Tests, when Brian Close captained for the first time:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17312/scorecard/62995/england-vs-west-indies-5th-test-west-indies-tour-of-england-1966

This involved a recovery from 166/7 to 527 and fifty-plus from the No 9, 10 and 11 batsmen (Murray, Higgs and Snow).

 

 

 

Indian cricketers on the Lord’s honours boards (August 2021)

This is revised whenever India plays a Test at Lord’s

Here we continue our focus on Lord’s with the list of Indian batsmen and bowlers who figure on the honors boards there.

First, batting:

Some points of interest:

Mankad’s century came along with a five-for. He and Ian Botham are the only ones to score a century and take a five-for in the same match at Lord’s.

Dilip Vengsarkar is the only visiting batsman from any country to score 3 Test centuries at this venue.

Ganguly’s 131 came on his Test debut. It was the highest innings score by anyone making his Test debut at this venue, until D Conway made 200 earlier in 2021.

Agarkar made his only Test century here-all the more remarkable as his next highest score was 41. Now you know the answer to the old quiz question “What batting feat was attained by Agarkar and not by Gavaskar and Tendulkar?”

No instance from 2018.

Now we come to the bowling boards, listing all Indians who have taken 5 wickets in an innings here:

No one from 2018 or even the win at 2021. A fair cross-section of Indian bowlers over the years. Ishant Sharma now holds the record with 7-74, surpassing the record of 6-35 by Amar Singh in 1936. Mohammed Nissar’s fiver came on his Test debut which was also India’s first Test.

There is also an honors board for 10-wicket hauls, in which no Indian appears. There are some performances by English bowlers against India, notably Alec Bedser’s 11-wicket haul on his debut in 1946.

Tail piece: After the 2021 Test, England and India had played 19 Tests there. England lead 12-3 with 4 draws. India’s victories were in 1986, 2014 and 2021.