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.

Yasir Shah the batsman

It is not often that one scores a century at No 8 (or below) against Australia. Yasir Shah is now one of them:

Of these 7, Parore was at no 9 and Read at no 10. Yasir has the second highest score IN Australia, after Prior’s 118. India is represented by current player Saha.

Those who have scored a century at No 8 (or below) for Pakistan:

Asif Iqbal’s 146 was at No 9 and the remaining 12 were at no 8. And Yasir has the highest against and in Australia.

Another interesting point is found when we look at the career batting averages of all who scored at least one century:

(This was before Pakistan’s second innings). The lowest is by the recent West Indian bowler JE Taylor at 12.96, while Yasir Shah is second lowest at 14.06.

Going further down. Harbhajan Singh has the lowest average of 18.22 by those who made at least 2 centuries. And Wasim Akram (22.64) has the lowest by those who made at least 3 centuries.

And Yasir also joins the somewhat longer list of those who scored one or more centuries but no other scores above 50. Here is an earlier list:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/test-centuries-but-no-fifties-aug-2019/

 

Test statistics for 2018-2

Now for bowling:

Most wickets in 2018 (25 or more):

JJ Bumrah took 48 wickets in the calendar year of his debut, coming 3rd after Alderman (54 in 1981) and Ambrose (49 in 1988). The previous record for India was 40 by Doshi in 1979. A Dananjaya took 27 wickets in his debut calendar year.

The most fivers were 4 by Taijul and Miraz of Bangladesh and Holder of the West Indies. No one took more than one tenner.

Best innings bowling (including all instances of 6wi and above):

The best effort by Maharaj was in a losing cause.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 9wm and above):

Maharaj also figures here with a 12-wicket haul when his side lost. Yasir Shah’s 14-wicket haul was the best in the UAE. He and Imran Khan are the only Pakistani bowlers to have taken 14 wickets in a match.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Bumrah has the best average and strike rate, while Anderson has the best economy.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

de Kock and Paine lead, although Dickwella has the most stumpings. Kusal Mendis has the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most innings dismissals (5 or more):

Newcomer Pant is the only one with 6 dismissals. SPD Smith has the most catches by a non-fielder, making him one of several to share this record in all Tests. Saha took 5 catches in each innings of a match.

Most match dismissals (6 or more):

Pant with 11 dismissals shared the world record with Russell and de Villiers. Earlier in the year Saha had an Indian record with 10 dismissals.

The most by a non-keeper was 7 by Rahul, in the only Test which India won on that series. Smith made 6 catches before being disgraced.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

de Kock and Paine at the top, leading the others by a large margin. Kusal Mendis has the best by a non-keeper.

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Not a good year for all-rounders, as Cummins is the only one to make the cut with these relatively modest standards.

Match (50 and 5wi):

More good performances, with Cummins’ last-gasp performance at the end. Holder also has two entries here.

 

Test bowling performances of 2017

After covering Test batting in 2017 in the previous post, we move to bowling. This refers to all Tests which occurred in the calendar year.

Most wickets (25 and above):

Lyon is followed at some distance by Rabada, Ashwin, Anderson and Jadeja bunched together.

Rabada and Herath are the only ones with two tenners. Lyon, Herath and Yasir Shah have five fivers apiece.

Best innings bowling (including all instances of 6wi and above):

Lyon again, with the only 8-wicket haul. He is also among the four who had 7-wicket hauls.

Best match bowling (all instances of 9wm and above):

Lyon with 13 followed by O’Keefe with 12, both in Asia). Herath’s two 11-wicket hauls were also in Asia. Ali’s 10-for was accompanied by a fifty.

While disciplinary issues may keep O’Keefe out of the team for a while, he achieved an odd record by taking 6-35 in each innings for a match haul of 12-70. The previous record was by BS Chandrashekhar (6-52 twice, giving 12-104).

Best bowling averages (minimum 2000 balls bowled, bowling average below 30):

Anderson leads with Rabada some distance behind, followed by Jadeja and others.

It can be seen that the best economy rates (for 2000+ balls) are by Anderson (2.26) and Jadeja (2.44).

And the best strike rates (for 2000+ balls) are by Rabada (37.8), Maharaj (46.3) and Anderson (46.4).

 

Review of Tests between the West Indies and Pakistan-2

Continuing our review of all Tests between these teams, after the conclusion of the recent series.

Bowling-20 or more wickets:

Imran and Akram top the list, with Walsh having the most wickets for the West Indies. Among current players there are Yasir Shah (46), Bishoo (36) and Gabriel (25). The most 5wi are 6 by Imran and 5 by Yasir Shah. No one has taken 10wm more than once.

Best innings bowling-all cases of 6wi and above:

While Croft and Imran have the best innings figures for their teams, Yasir Shah’s 7-94 and 6-63, Mohammad Amir’s 6-44 and Gabriel’s 5-11 are from the just-concluded series. The second best figures of 8-49 were by Bishoo in the series in the UAE last year.

Best match bowling-all cases of 9wm and above:

Gabriel and Yasir Shah recorded 9-wicket hauls in this series, although the overall record of 12-100 was set by Fazal Mahmood long ago. Bishoo and Yasir Shah had  10-wicket hauls last year in the UAE.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls)-all instances:

Croft has the best bowling average with Marshall and Wasim Akram close behind.

Of current players, Yasir Shah and Bishoo can be seen here.

The best economy rates are 2.05 by Gibbs and 2.36 by Fazal Mahmood.

The best strike rates are 39.6 by Waqar Younis and 41.7 by Croft.

Fielding: 12 or more dismissals:

The record of 29 dismissals was set by Alexander long ago, though Kamran Akmal and Moin Khan are second with 25. The most stumpings is by Imtiaz Ahmed (8) and most by non-keepers 23 by Viv Richards and Younis Khan. Dowrich and Sarfraz Ahmed are slowly moving up.

Best innings fielding: 4 or more dismissals:

The record of 5 is shared by DL Murray, Moin Khan and Kamran Akmal (twice). The most by non-keepers is 4 by Mathias, Logie and Taufeeq Umar.

Best match fielding: 5 or more dismissals:

The much-maligned Kamran Akmal has the record of 9 dismissals, while Imtiaz Ahmed holds the record of 3 stumpings. The most catches by non-keepers is 5 by Logie, Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan. Younis achieved this in the 2nd Test of this series.

Best dismissal rate (20 or more innings):

No wicket-keepers figure in this list as none of them played enough. The best dismissal rate is by Younis Khan followed by Viv Richards.

All-round performance (see criteria in table):

Even with these modest criteria, only Imran Khan qualifies with a respectable total of 775 runs and 80 wickets.

All-round match performance (fifty and 5wi in match):

Oddly enough, Imran did not achieve this but the then captain Mushtaq Mohammad’s all-round performance is one of the finest for Pakistan. And we are reminded of Gayle’s lesser-known bowling capability.

 

 

 

Tests between Pakistan and the West Indies-1

Better late than never. Here is a summary of all Tests between these countries including the recently concluded series in the UAE. A point of interest was that the West Indies recorded their first victory over Pakistan in neutral Tests, having lost 2-0 in 2002 and now 2-1. We see that they had lost all 4 neutral Tests against Pakistan till then.

49 Tests have been played between these countries. Pakistan now lead 18-16 with 15 draws. A summary:

                    Pak      WI       Draw  Total

In Pak         9              4          8           21

In WI           5             11          7           23

Neutral       4               1         0             5

Total          18            16      15           49

We now look at batting:

Most runs (500 and more):

M. Yousuf has the most centuries (7) followed by Inzamam and Lara with 4 apiece

M. Yousuf also has the most 50+ scores with 10, while four others have made 9.

And M. Yousuf has scored the most runs in this series though he played in  a relatively small number of Tests.

Highest innings (150 and above):

The top score here was the world record Test score for almost 40 years and strangely enough, Gary Sobers’s maiden Test hundred. In the same series, Pakistan recorded their highest score of this series which was one of the longest in all first-class cricket. It is still Pakistan’s highest Test score and the longest innings in all Tests (though no longer the first-class record).

Azhar Ali is the only current player here.

Highest batting averages (20 or more innings, all instances):

Wasim Raja tops this rather surprisingly. But heavy scorers such as M. Yousuf (101.16 in 14 innings), Sobers (89.45 in 13 innings) and Hanif (73.60 in 11 innings) did not play enough to feature here. See the first table above for their averages.

Mention must also be made of Kraigg Brathwaite’s batting feat (which deserves a post to itself): https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/kraigg-brathwaites-unique-feat/

Now for bowling:

Most wickets (20 and more):

The top few names are as expected, while newcomers such as Bishoo and Yasir Shah are climbing rapidly.

Imran has the most fivers (6), followed by 4 each by Akram and Walsh. No one has taken more than one tenner.

Best innings bowling (6 or more wickets):

Bishoo’s 8-49 was the second best in this series, though his team did not win that match. The only other current player here is Yasir Shah at the bottom, though at least his team did win.

Best match bowling (9 or more wickets):

Bishoo and Yasir Shah also appear here.

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

Current players will take a while to reach here.

It can be seen that the best economy rates are 2.05 by Gibbs and 2.36 by Fazal. The best strike rates are 39.6 by Younis and 41.7 by Croft.

To be continued.