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.

Review of Pakistan-Sri Lanka Tests (Jul 2022)-Part 2

Hope you have seen Part 1: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/07/31/review-of-pakistan-sri-lanka-tests-jul-2022-part-1/

Continuing with Bowling:

Most wickets (25 or more):

Here Muralitharan has the second spot after Herath, while Saeed Ajmal has the most for Pakistan. Yasir Shah is the only current player.

Best innings bowling (6wi or more):

Herath again, overshadowing Imran Khan. No recent players except for Yasir Shah.

Best match bowling (including 9wm or more):

Here, Imran Khan has better figures than Herath. R Mendis, P Jayasuriya and Yasir Shah represent the current players.

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

Here, the two Ws have the top spots. Wasim also has the best economy rate, and Waqar the best strike rate.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

Led by Moin Khan and the fielder M Jayawardene. Current players include Dickwella, Chandimal and M Rizwan.

Most innings dismissals (4 or more):

Chandimal has most (6), while two fielders have taken 4 catches.

Most match dismissals (6 or more):

This time it is led by the lesser-known P Jayawardene with 9 dismissals. However, the better-known Jayawardene has the most (6) by a fielder.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

Headed by Moin Khan by a large margin over the second-placed Chandimal. M Jayawardene has the best rate for a fielder. Chandimal represents the current players.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Wasim has the best figures here, while Vaas does not really qualify as an all-rounder.

Match performances (50+ and 5wi):

The three performances have little to choose between them.

Most sixes in a Test match and innings

First we look at the most sixes in an innings:

The present record of 12 sixes is by the unlikely batsman Wasim Akram in 1996-97. He surpassed the long-standing record of 10 by WR Hammond in 1932-33. That was in the course of the then Test record of 336*. It is often forgotten, as it is sandwiched between Bradman’s 334 in 1930 and Hutton’s 364 in 1938.

And Hayden’s 380 was the record between Lara’s 375 in 1993-94 and 400* in 2003-04.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16145/scorecard/63722/pakistan-vs-zimbabwe-1st-test-zimbabwe-tour-of-pakistan-1996-97

After 2000 there have been several near-misses (twice by Brendan McCullum) but no one has got past 12.

India’s record is 8 shared by Navjot Sidhu (1993-94) and Mayank Agarwal in 2019-20.

As you will see now, the 12 sixes hit by Akram were also a record for a Test match up to 2019.

Most sixes in a Test match:

As you can see, the record is now held by Rohit Sharma with 13 sixes in 2019-20. He made 6 sixes in 176 and 7 in 127.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19430/scorecard/1187007/india-vs-south-africa-1st-test-icc-world-test-championship-2019-2021

Next is Akram with 12 followed by several others from recent years.

As above, the next highest from India are Sidhu and MA Agarwal.

Another quaint record RG Sharma made was being the first to score centuries in each innings in his first Test as an opener.

Astle’s 11 sixes in 222 was not enough to save his team from defeat.