Kings of the fourth-innings chase (Revised-Sep 2021)-Pt 3

This continues from https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/09/25/kings-of-the-fourth-innings-chase-revised-sep-2021-pt-2/

Here we look at the best fielding performances in the fourth innings for the winning team.

Most dismissals: (15 and above):

Headed by Gilchrist, Haddin and Healy, who kept for Australia for most Tests between 1989 and 2015.

Current players include de Kock, the just-retired Watling, Bairstow, Paine and Pant.

India’s players are headed by Pant, followed by non-keeper Kohli, Dhoni and another non-keeper Dravid.

Most dismissals in an innings (5 and above):

Watling is the only one with 6 dismissals, followed by many with 5. Apart from GC Smith, no non-keeper has taken more than 4 catches. Healy appears here twice.

Of special note is KS More’s 5 stumpings. This is the world record for stumpings in an innings. 4 of these were off debutant Hirwani.

Most dismissals per innings (Minimum 15 innings):

Headed by de Kock, closely followed by Haddin.

The best by current players are by de Kock, Bairstow, Buttler and Stokes.

For India, the best are by Dravid and Kohli-both non-keepers. Indian keepers (apart from More) do not seem to have done well in winning matches in the fourth innings.

Highest batting averages at each batting position-Tests (Part 2, No 6-11):

Hope that you have seen Part 1.

Now we look at batting averages from 6 to 11, with separate working for 6-8 and 9-11.

To be continued, where the batting averages across positions are found. While Bradman is first at 99.94, the next few are not obvious.

Review of India-West Indies Tests (2019)-2

Bowling:

Most wickets (25 or more):

Kapil has the highest tally here, while Ashwin and I Sharma have the highest among current players.

Best innings bowling (All instances of 6wi or more):

While Kapil has the best performance here, spare a thought for JM Noreiga who played only in 4 tests but still had the best innings performance for the West Indies in all Tests.

Ashwin (2016) and Bumrah in this series have the best figures among current players.

Best match bowling (All instances of 9wm or more):

Hirwani’s match figures are the best for India in all Test. UT Yadav (2018) and I Sharma (2019) have the best figures among current players.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Hall and Walsh have the best bowling averages, while Ashwin and I Sharma have the best among current players. It can also be seen that GE Gomez and Gibbs have the best economy rates, and that Hall and Roberts have the best strike rate.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

Dujon has the most dismissals and catches, Dhoni the most stumpings and Richards the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and more):

WP Saha is the only one with 6 dismissals in an innings.  SD Hope made 5 dismissals in this series. DJG Sammy has the most catches by a non-keeper with 5 in 2013, which is a share in the world record. Also note KS More’s 5 stumpings which is a world record.

Most dismissals in a match (6 and more):

Dhoni has the most dismissals here (8) while More’s 6 stumpings is a world record. Both his records came in Hirwani’s record bowling performance. The most catches by a non-keeper are 6 by ED Solkar, in India’s first victory against WI in 1971.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

Dhoni has the best rate here followed by Dujon. While CL Walcott played some of his Tests as a keeper, the best rate by a non-keeper is 0.800 by Azharuddin.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Sobers has by far the best record here, followed by Ashwin who is again far ahead of Kapil. JO Holder and Chase have the best record among current players, while Mankad had a relatively poor record against WI.

Match performance (50 and 5wi):

This includes the century/5wi double by OG Smith, Umrigar, Sobers, Ashwin (twice) and Chase.

 

Test Fielding Records-2

Hope that you have read the first part.

Now we go on to the most neglected aspect of statistics – stumpings.

Most stumpings in an innings (4 and above):

The record is 5 by KS More, when he worked in tandem with Hirwani on his 16-wicket debut in 1987-88.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/31038.html

The previous record was shared by Australia’s Bert Oldfield, (the stumping champion whose 52 victims in the 1920s and 1930s are still a record) and India’s PK Sen (during India’s first-ever Test win in 1951-52, which coincided with the passing of King George VI).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7003.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/34741.html

While PK Sen was not as well known as Oldfield, he had his moments as in this Test against England. He also appears in trivia questions as the only Indian Test player who was born in a place which is now in Bangladesh. There were several who were born in places which are now in Pakistan, starting with Naoomal of the 1932 team (Karachi).

Then there is:

Most stumpings in a match (4 and above):

Oldfield dominates this list as one would expect. However, Sen had the record of 5 after that Test in 1951-52. More took over in 1987-88.

Also note V Rajindernath who took 4 stumpings and no catches in his only Test. He did not get to bat either, and thus he and JCW McBryan are the only ones who did not bat or bowl in their Test career. But McBryan did not take a catch.

We also look at the most stumpings in a career (20 and above):

Oldfield and Evans lead, with Dhoni in 3rd place and Kirmani in 4th.  The only other current player here is Sarfaraz Ahmed, though he is yet to catch up with his countrymen Wasim Bari and Kamran Akmal.