Sri Lanka-Pakistan Tests-2023-Pt 1

Pakistan won both the Tests, leading 2-0.

A total of 59 Tests have been played by these teams since 1982.

Pak has won 23, SL 17 and 19 have been drawn.

In Pak, 23 Tests have been played. Pak has won 9, SL 6 and 8 were drawn.

In SL, 27 have been played. Pak has won 11, SL 8 and 8 were drawn.

On neutral grounds, Pak and SL are tied with 3-3 and 3 were drawn.

Coming to individual performances:

Batting:

Most runs (1000 or more):

Led by Sangakkara. Mathews and Karunaratne have the most by current players.

Sangakkara has the most centuries (10), followed by Younis and Aravinda with 8.

Sangakkara also has the most 50+ scores (22), followed by Younis with 14.

Highest innings (175 or more):

A lot of high scoring here, starting with Younis’s triple century.

In this series the highest scores were 208* by Saud Shakeel and 201 by Abdullah Shafique. They surpassed the record for Pak in SL by M Hafeez (196).

Batting average (Min 20 innings, 45.00):

Headed by Sangakkara with Inzamam far behind coming next. Mathews has the best by current players.

Batting strike rate (Min 1000 balls faced, 50.00):

Led by Sarfraz Ahmed followed by Dilshan. Babar Azam is also there from recent times.

Bowling:

Most wickets (25 or more):

Led by Herath followed by Murali. Saeed Ajmal has the most for Pakistan. Strangely, P Jayasuriya has the most by current players.

Best innings bowling (6wi or better):

Led by Herath and Imran. Noman’s 7-70 is the best in recent years. It is the best for Pak in SL, surpassing Yasir Shah’s 7-76 in 2022.

Best match bowling (including all 9wm or better):

Headed by Herath and Imran. No major performances in this series, though there was R Mendis’s 9-for in 2022.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, maximum 35.00):

Headed by the two Ws, with W Akram at No 1.

The most economical bowling was by Wasim Akram and Abdur Rehman.

The best strike rates were by the two Ws again, with Waqar Younis at no 1 this time.

To be continued.

Nathan Lyon’s batting record

While Nathan Lyon usually bats at 10 or 11, he holds the record of making the most runs in Tests without ever making a fifty. His best is 47. Only three players have made 1000 runs without a fifty:

Waqar Younis was the first to reach this mark, followed by Lyon. Waqar was the only player with this distinction for almost 20 years.

Review of Pakistan-New Zealand Tests after 2022-23 series (Part 2)

Hope you have read Part 1.

We now proceed to Bowling records for Tests between these teams.

Most wickets (25 or more):

It is not surprising to see Waqar and Wasim at the top, and that Sir Richard has the most for New Zealand.

The most 5wis are 6 by Wasim followed by 5 by Waqar. Several players have two 10wms.

Southee has the most by current players.

Best innings bowling (including all 7wi or better):

The best figures are the most recent here, 8-41 by Yasir Shah who is not currently in the team. Also note Mohammad Zahid’s 7-for on debut in 1996. The best by NZ was by the lesser-known C Pringle

Best match bowling (including all 10wm or better):

Yasir Shah’s 2018 performance also tops this list. KA Jamieson has the next best performance in recent years. Mohammad Zahid took 11 wickets on debut.

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

The two Ws again. Note the unusually poor average of Vettori.

The best economy rates are Pervez Sajjad and HJ Howarth.

The best strike rates are by Wasim and Waqar.

Now for Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

The most dismissals are by recent player BJ Watling, followed by current player Sarfaraz Ahmed. Sarfaraz also has the most stumpings (6) and recent player R Taylor has the most catches as a fielder (29).

Most dismissals in an innings (5 or more):

Headed by Wasim Bari (7), followed by Adnan Akmal with 6.

Bari’s 7 was then a world record for innings dismissals.

Most dismissals in a match (7 or more):

Headed by Rashid Latif and BB McCullum with 9.

Best dismissal rates (Minimum 20 innings and 0.600):

Headed by BJ Watling. The best by a fielder is by another recent player R Taylor.

All-round performances(Minimum 20 innings and 2000 balls):

Only Intikhab Alam makes the cut.

All-round match performances (Minimum 50 runs and 5wi):

The best performances are by Mushtaq Mohammad and MD Craig.

Mushtaq and DS Atkinson are the only ones to score a double century and take a 5wi in a match.

MD Craig’s 50/10wm was the highlight of a short career. Also note Sodhi’s performance in the latest series.

Kings of the fourth-innings chase (Revised-Sep 2021)-Pt 2

Continued from: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/09/24/kings-of-the-fourth-innings-chase-revised-sep-2021-pt-1/

We now look at the bowlers who have been most successful in winning matches in the fourth innings.

Most wickets (35 and above):

Warne leads with 103, followed by late developer Herath and McGrath.

Herath has the most five-fors (11) followed by Muralitharan (7)

Current players are headed by Lyon (68 wickets), Broad and Ashwin.

The most wickets by Indian players are by Ashwin (65), Kumble (51) and Ishant Sharma (45).

Best innings bowling (including all 8wi and above):

The best here is 10-74 by Kumble. (Laker’s 10-wicket haul was in the third innings). Then there is 9-86 by Sarfraz Nawaz which included a spell of 7-1.

The best innings figures in recent times include 8-60 by RL Chase in 2019 and 8-63 by R Herath in 2016.

India is represented by Kumble and debutant Hirwani. (Another famous debutant Bob Massie had bowled in the third innings).

Finally we look at career figures for bowling in the fourth innings of wins:

Best bowling averages in wins in the 4th innings (Minimum 1500 balls bowled):

These are all the 25 bowlers who crossed the cutoff of 1500 balls bowled.

McGrath leads here with 14.24, followed by Herath, Ashwin and Kumble.

The best by current players are Ashwin (16.03), MM Ali, Starc , Ishant Sharma, Broad, Anderson and a few more with 1500+ balls bowled.

The best averages for India are by Ashwin, Kumble, Ishant Sharma, Jadeja and Harbhajan.

The best economy rates are by Illingworth (1.70) and Jadeja

The best strike rates are by Waqar Younis and MM Ali (32.9 with Waqar slightly ahead).

1000 runs in Tests without a fifty

For a long time, Waqar Younis was the only who had crossed this barrier. Later. “GOAT” Lyon caught up, and now Kemar Roach:

There are as many as 54 Test players who have made 1000 runs without scoring a century. Some have managed a century practically at the end of their Test career (e.g. Kumble, Vaas).

Today there are three players with 2000 runs and no centuries:

Warne’s 3000+ looks safe here, unless Dickwella plays long enough without a century. He does hold the record of 18 fifties without a century, ahead of Chauhan with 16.

Captains who never won, never lost and never drew their Tests

The last of our survey of performances of Test captains.

Those who never won any Test:

This applies to 4 or more Tests.

The first two are predictably from the earlier Bangladeshi teams, although the number 3 is more surprising. He is followed by a Zimbabwean and a South African. The highest by India is surprisingly Vinoo Mankad with 6. Also note DK Gaekwad (lost all 4) and K Srikkanth (drew all 4).

The highest by a Test player is 42 Tests (23 losses, 19 draws) by B Sutcliffe, who was among the best batsmen from NZ for most of his career. He had captained his team in 4 Tests.

Those who never lost any Test:

This list is for 2 or more Tests.

W Armstrong heads this list with 10 Tests (8 wins and 2 draws) and DB Close and FG Mann both with 7. Current player AM Rahane has the best for India with 5 (4 wins and a draw). He is followed by Srikkanth with 4 draws.

The highest for any player is 21 (12 wins and 9 draws) by India’s RK Chauhan.

Those who never drew any Test:

These are for 4 or more Tests.

Headed by Waqar Younis with 17 (10 wins and 7 losses) and current Zimbabwean captain Brendan Taylor with 16 (a less impressive 3 wins and 13 losses). India’s best (?) is DK Gaekwad with 4 losses. Current South African Q de Kock also has 4. The trio of those with 4 wins out of 4 are also here: Bacher, Babar Azam and Lord Hawke.

The record for all Test players is held by current SA player AK Markram with 24 (14 wins and 10 losses) followed by GA Lohmann with 18 (15 wins and 3 losses).

Analyzing Test captaincies – 4

Here we look at captains with no wins, no losses and no draws.

No Wins:

These are captains in 4 or more Tests with no wins.

Headed by M Ashraful of Bangladesh with 13 (12 losses and 1 draw). The next (IT Botham) is more surprising. Another Bangladeshi Khaled Mashud also has 12.

In recent years there are AG Cremer (8) and KC Brathwaite (5).

From India there are MH Mankad (6), S Venkataraghavan (5) and others with 4.

No losses:

These are captains in 2 or more Tests with no losses.

WW Armstrong with 10 heads this list, with 8 wins and 2 draws.

Next are DB Close and FG Mann with 7.

In recent years there is only AM Rahane with 2; both of these wins were when he was standing in for Kohli.

From India we also have Srikkanth with 4 (all draws).

No draws:

These are captains in 3 or more Tests with no draws.

Headed by Waqar Younis (17, 10 wins and 7 losses). The next is Shakib with 14 (3 wins and 11 losses).

Others from recent times (other than Shakib) include R Herath, KC Brathwaite and RAS Lakmal with 5.

Brathwaite has 5 losses out of 5.

From India there is DK Gaekwad with 4 (all losses). He is presently India’s oldest living Test player.