Review of Australia-Sri Lanka Tests (July 2022)-Pt 2

Hope you have seen Part 1.

Continuing with individual performances in

Fielding:

Most dismissals (12 or more):

Headed by Gilchrist and Healy, with Sangakkara some distance behind. Kusal Mendis (14) has the most among current players.

The most stumpings, however, are 6 by Kaluwitharana. The most by a fielder are 20 by M Jayawardene.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 or more):

Only Carey among current players.

Most dismissals in a match (6 or more):

Gilchrist and Healy lead again. Hayden is one of several fielders to have taken 7 catches in a match, which was a world record until Rahane took 8, also against Sri Lanka.

The most stumpings in a match is 3.

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500)

Led by Sangakkara with a combination of dismissals as keeper and fielder. M Jayawardene has the best dismissal rate among fielders.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Only C Vaas appears here, and his difference is not enough for a genuine all-rounder.

Match performance (minimum one 50+ and one 5+wi):

Only 2 instances here. MDK (Dilruwan) Perera made the double of 50 and 10wm.

Review of Australia-Sri Lanka Tests (July 2022)-Pt 1

The series was drawn 1-1, with sudden collapses on the final day of play in both Tests.

Summary of all Tests between these teams:

While Australia leads 20-5 overall, it leads only by 7-5 in Sri Lanka. And Sri Lanka trails 13-0 in Australia.

Coming to individual performances;

Batting:

Most runs (500 or more):

Headed by M Hussey with 994 with Ponting and M Jayawardene close behind. Mathews (692) and Chandimal (579) have the most runs among current players.

The most centuries are 5 by Hussey, and the most 50+ scores are 8 by Clarke, Ponting and Sangakkara.

Highest innings (125 or more):

Chandimal’s 206* in the second Test is the highest for SL v Aus, surpassing Sangakkara’s 192 in Aus in 2007 and Kusal Mendis’s 176 in SL in 2016. This was a reatively low-scoring series, with the only other score of note being 145* by SPD Smith.

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

Headed by Ponting and Sangakkara. The current players have not played enough.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced and 40.00):

Headed by ST Jayasuriya and Hayden. Chandimal and Mathews are the only current players here.

Bowling:

Most wickets (12 or more):

Headed by R Herath with 66, followed by the better-known Warne and Muralidaran. Starc and Lyon have the most among current players. Newcomer P Jayasuriya makes this list after only one Test. The most 5-fors are 6 by Herath and Starc, and 10wms 2 by Starc and Warne.

Best innings bowling (6wi or more):

Headed by Kasprowicz and R Herath. P Jayasuriya’s 6-59 and 6-118 came on his debut.

Best match bowling (9wm or more):

Headed by R Herath’s 13-wicket haul in 2016 and P Jayasuriya’s 12 on debut in the second Test here.

That was the best match figures for any Sri Lankan player on debut. This is covered in more detail here:

10 wickets on Test debut (July 2022)

Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls bowled, all instances):

Headed by Herath and Warne, with Muralidaran just making the cut.

Herath has the best average and strike rate, while Vaas has the best economy rate. Muralidaran was relatively less successful against Australia.

To be continued.

Kings of the fourth-innings chase (Revised-Sep 2021)-Pt 1

The fourth-innings chase is often regarded as the ultimate challenge for a batter. Let us see who have done the best in successful chases.

Most runs: (400+):

GC Smith is the clear leader here. He also has the most centuries (4) and most 50+ scores (10, followed by contemporaries Hayden, Ponting and JL Langer with 7). Also note CG Greenidge’s 214*.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag have the most runs for India.

Williamson and Karunaratne are the only current players here, with Amla, Cook and Younis from recent years.

Bradman is not here (but when he batted, a fourth innings chase was often not needed by Australia).

Highest scores in these cases (115 and above):

A total of 76 centuries have been scored here.

Only two double centuries, with KR Mayers scoring his on debut. The next highest in recent years was 153* by K Perera in 2019. There are Morris and Bradman in the same Test at Leeds in 1948, which was the only successful 400+ chase until India followed in 1976. (Years later, MA Butcher emulated Bradman’s 173* at Leeds).

The highest from India are not in the above list.

Viswanath (112) and Gavaskar (102) made their centuries in the same match in 1976, while Tendulkar and Laxman have made 103*.

Highest averages (Minimum 15 innings):

These 21 entries are the only ones with 15 or more innings. GC Smith leads here as well, with Ponting close behind.

From the recent past there are Cook and Amla. Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag represent India.

Kisrsten and Dravid are among those who did not score a century, although Hutton has a 98*.

We will take up bowling in 4th-innings wins in the next part.

Warner’s triple century and others

First, a list of all Test scores of 300 and above;

David Warner’s 335* was the 31st instance of 300+ in a Test, and the first at Adelaide. Incidentally the previous highest was 299* by DG Bradman vs SA in 1931-32.

It is also the highest in any day-night Test, surpassing  Azhar Ali’s 302* at Dubai in 2016-17.

However, it is the second highest score by an Australian player and in Australia, where ML Hayden’s 380 is in first place.

Coming back to the list of 300+ scores above, 27 players have made 31 such scores.

Lara, Gayle, Sehwag and Bradman have 2 such scores each. Bradman and Sehwag came close to getting a third, getting up to 299* and 293 respectively.

It is instructive to see the list of 300+ scores in chronological order.

The first such score was by Andrew Sandham in 1929-30. He remains relatively unknown now:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20058.html

Prior to this tour of the West Indies, he had played in 10 Tests without a century, He made 152 in the first Test, and rounded this up with 325 and 50 in what was to be his last Test. England made 849 and later set WI over 800 to win. As in the better-known timeless Test at Durban a decade later, the match was called off as England had to catch their ship home.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17590/scorecard/62579/west-indies-vs-england-4th-test-england-tour-of-west-indies-1929-30

This record of 325 only lasted for a little over 7 months, as Bradman made 334 at Leeds during the 1930 tour. (His only other triple (304) also came at Leeds in 1934).

Another of Sandham’s records was more durable; his 375 in the match was not surpassed until Greg Chappell made 380 (247* and 133) in 1973-74.

In England’s customary add-on series with New Zealand after the bodyline series of 1932-33, Hammond made 336*. The captain (RES Wyatt) appears to have declared once he crossed Bradman’s record of 334. Even so, there was not enough time to win the Test.

So the record was back with England. Bradman got up to 304 at Leeds in 1934.

At the Oval in 1938, Hutton made sure it remained with England with 364. England’s total of 903/7 dec was the record until the Sri Lankans made 952/6 in 1997.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17544/scorecard/62652/england-vs-australia-5th-test-australia-tour-of-england-1938

A famous picture from that Test:

That record of 364 lasted a little less than 20 years, when a relatively unknown all-rounder named Garfield Sobers marked his first Test century with 365*. There was, expectedly, a crowd disturbance when he passed the old mark. But the captain Gerry Alexander declared after this, correctly guessing that there was enough time to bowl out Pakistan twice.

A more detailed account of this innings can be seen here:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/make-mine-a-double-no-a-triple/

This record stood for just over 36 years, when another West Indian batsman Brian Lara made 375 at St John’s in 1994. An account of this innings:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/21525184/brian-lara-375-world-record-nearly

The West Indies won the series 3-1 with this final Test drawn.

In the second half of the 1990s, there were two determined efforts, with Sri Lanka’s Jayasuriya making 340 in what is still a Test record total of 952/6, and the puzzling score of 334* by Australian captain Mark Taylor who declared at this point. The official story then was that he did not want to go past Bradman’s Australian record. Both these Tests ended in dull draws.

By late 2003, Matthew Hayden got a chance against Zimbabwe. Admittedly its bowling was somewhat better than what it was later, but he did not stop at crossing 375 and made 380 at Perth, still a record for Australia and in Australia. Steve Waugh declared as soon as Hayden was out at 735/6.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/15140/scorecard/64048/australia-vs-zimbabwe-1st-test-zimbabwe-tour-of-australia-2003-04

Hayden’s record lasted only for 6 months, when Lara reclaimed it again at St. John’s:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/15068/scorecard/64080/west-indies-vs-england-4th-test-england-tour-of-west-indies-2003-04

As in 1994, this score was not enough for West Indies to win the Test even though England had to follow on. However, England had won the first 3 Tests and thus won the series 3-0. Lara’s 400* was therefore relatively unimportant to the result.

Since then, the closest anyone got was 374 by M Jayawardene in 2006. Warner might well have come close to the record except that rain was forecast for the remainder of the Test. It is yet unclear whether the captain TD Paine attached any special significance to 335 which was Warner’s score when the captain declared. There was enough time to dismiss Pakistan twice with over a day to spare.