The jinx in India-Pakistan matches

Note: This was written before the start of the 2017 Champions Trophy.

It is often said that India dominates Pakistan in ICC tournaments. Hence the “Mauka Mauka” ads which aired at the beginning of the 2015 World Cup.

Let us see take a closer look at the history of these encounters. First, the World Cup:

India and Pakistan never met in the World Cups of 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1987. They were somehow always drawn in different groups so they could have met only in the semi-finals or finals. It was not until 1992 that they met in the World Cup. In that tournament all teams played each other in the knockout stage.

They met in the quarter-finals in 1996, Super Six in 1999, and a pool match in 2003. India won all these matches so the feeling of a jinx over Pakistan kept growing.

In 2007, both India and Pakistan were jinxed and failed to proceed beyond the pool stage, being displaced by Bangladesh and Ireland respectively.

In 2011, India won in the semi-final and repeated this in a pool match in 2015. So India have won all 6 encounters.

If you want to see the scorecards, open this link and click on the blue square on the extreme right.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;filter=advanced;opposition=7;orderby=start;team=6;template=results;trophy=12;type=team;view=results

Now we go to the T20 World Championship. We will come back to the Champions Trophy at the end.

The teams met twice in the inaugural championship in 2007. Though the match in the pool stage was a tie, India got the winner’s points as they won in the bowl-out which was then the method used to determine the winner of a tied match.

Then India won against Pakistan in the final. The teams did not meet in 2009 and 2010. India won the next three encounters in 2012, 2014 and 2016. All of these were in the group stages and not the semi-final or final. Thus India leads 5-0 (including the tie) in the World T20 Championship.

You can see the scorecards from this link:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=3;filter=advanced;opposition=7;orderby=start;team=6;template=results;trophy=89;type=team;view=results

For details of the bowl-out in the first match in 2007, see the commentary section rather than the scorecard.

But the story in the Champions Trophy is somewhat different:

India and Pakistan did not meet in 1998, 2000 or 2002 (when India shared the trophy with Sri Lanka). Pakistan won the first encounter in 2004 in the group stage. They did not meet in 2006. Pakistan won in 2009, also in the group stage. India finally won in 2013, in a group match on their way to the trophy.

So the jinx on Pakistan in ICC tournaments does not apply to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, where they lead India 2-1. Let us see what happens when they meet on June 4. India currently has a higher ranking than Pakistan, but that has no bearing in high-tension encounters like these.

See the scorecards here:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;filter=advanced;opposition=7;orderby=start;team=6;template=results;trophy=44;type=team;view=results

 

 

90s in T20I cricket

Having looked at 90s (mainly 99s) in Tests and ODIs, we turn to T20Is. Since there are very few 99s here, we look at 90s.

To begin with, here are the full list of 90s in T20I matches since their start in 2005:

There are only two 99s here: by AD Hales in 2012, and an unbeaten 99 by LJ Wright also in 2012. That was in the T20 World Championship.

CH Gayle is the only one to make two 90s in this format, in 2010 and 2015. On the first occasion he was captain, during the T20 world championship (not World Cup as it is often wrongly called).

90s on T20I debut:

Remember, that was the very first T20I match.

Now we look at

90s by captains in T20I:

Ponting’s 98* again, with Gayle and SPD Smith.

We take a closer look at unbeaten 90s:

The highest is 99* by LJ Wright, followed by 98* by RT Ponting, M Jayawardene and Ahmed Shehzad and 97* by HM Amla

Finally we look at unbeaten 90s in the second innings:

While Gibbs and Guptill made these scores in successful run chases, Root’s score was for a losing side.

The highest score by a captain in a successful run chase is 75* by CO Obuya for Kenya vs Netherlands in 2013. Among the Test nations, it is 73* by KS Williamson for New Zealand  vs Bangladesh earlier in 2017.

 

 

 

Overall T20WC records as on March 23

As we pause for breath after the last over against Bangladesh, here is a snapshot of major records in all T20WC matches from 2007 to March 23.

Most matches (25 and more):

Dilshan, Afridi and Dhoni look set to add a few more matches-though they probably will have retired by the next World Championship. Note that the previous record of 31 was shared by three Sri Lankans.

Most runs: (500 and more)

M. Jayawardene’s record is under threat from Gayle and Dilshan.

Of those who scored more than 500 runs, Kohli has by far the highest average (67.33). The next is Gayle with 45.35

The highest strike rate here is 153.31 by Afridi, followed by 148.33 by Pietersen.

Most wickets (20 and more):

Afridi (39) has taken over the record from Malinga. Next among current players is Shakib with 30.

The record of 6-8 by Ajantha Mendis has not come under threat this time as no one has taken more than 4 wickets in an innings.

From those listed above, Mendis has the best average of 15.02, Vettori the best economy at 5.83 and Mendis the best strike rate of 13.4

Fielding (12 or more dismissals):

De Villiers (31) has the most dismissals and is set to add to his record. Most of his catches were as a fielder. Dhoni (29) and Ramdin (26) have a chance of catching up.

Kamran Akmal has the most dismissals (30) among the “pure” keepers. Guptill and Warner with 15 lead among the pure non-keepers, although de Villiers has 22 catches as a fielder along with 7 catches as a keeper and 2 stumpings.

Finally,

Best all-round performance (Minimum 100 runs and 10 wickets):

Using this criterion, Kallis ranks the highest, followed by Shakib and Mathews from the current players.

As we can see, a few of these records may be broken before the end of the 2016 World Championship.