Most hundreds without an ODI fifty

During the third match of Pakistan-England ODI series at Karachi, Kamran Akmal equalled Dennis Amiss’ world record of most ODI hundreds before a fifty. Akmal has now scored three centuries in ODIs without ever failing to convert a fifty into hundred so far in his 32-match career. England’s Dennis Amiss scored three tons before he finally made his first fifty score of 88 against East Africa on June 14, 1975. Kamran is however the first wicketkeeper to perform such feat. There are still 12 other players who have scored atleast one century in ODIs but no fifties while there have been 28 who scored their first 100 before their first half-century. See Tables 1 & 2.

* It was also Akmal’s third ODI and fifth international hundred this year. With that he joined Australia’s Adam Gilchrist as only the second wicketkeeper to score three ODI centuries in a calendar year. Gilchrist had performed such feet in 1998. He also equalled Gilchrest’s world record of most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs in a calendar year. See Table 3 & 4.

* Akmal’s brilliant 109 made him only the second wicketkeeper after England’s Alec Stewart to score two successive ODI hundred in as many as matches. He is also the seventh Pakistani for the 10th time to register two tons in consecutive ODI games. See Tables 5 & 6.

* Shahid Afridi has now hit 35 sixes in 2005, the most by any batsman. India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also smashed 34 sixes this year. See Table 7.Click to see the tables

From Bannerman to Lara..

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At 1221 hrs local time (0050 GMT) on November 26, 2005, the second day of the third Test against Australia at Adelaide, Brain Charles Lara, fifteen years after taking guard for the first time against Wasim Akram, daringly swept Glenn McGrath’s delivery to fine-leg for a single that made him the most prolific batsman of all time taking him ahead of Allan Border [11,174 runs] in the hall of fame.

So far, the record of most Test career runs has changed hands 21 times between 16 players from four nations since Australia's Charles Bannerman scored the first run in Test cricket against England on March 15, 1877 at Melbourne. Bannerman extended his innings to 165 before being forced to retire hurt with a hand injury. He dominated Australia's innings in this inaugural Test, scoring 67.3% of his side's total - still a Test record for a completed innings.

* During the first 95 years of Test cricket it was either an Australian or an Englishman who held the record until a West Indian, Sir Garry Sobers surpassed Colin Cowdrey on March 26, 1972. [For complete details see the accompanying table of progressive record holders].

* Clem Hill, who lost the record twice during 1902 before finally holding it for 22 years until Jack Hobbs broke it in 1924, is the youngest ever player to hold the most Test career runs batting record when he first claimed it from Archie MacLaren in July 1902. He was aged 25 years and 108 days.

* Jack Hobbs was aged 42 years and 6 days when he broke Clem Hill’s record of 2412 runs at Sydney in December 1924. He is thus the oldest player to break the record.

* Wally Hammond held the record for the longest span of 33 years and 156 days. Hammond broke Hobbs record of 5410 runs on June 26, 1937 and then extended it to 7249 before his last Test in March 1947. Due to the WWII, between 1939 and 1945, there was no Test cricket for six years and 219 days. More than three decades later, it was England's Colin Cowdrey who battered Hammond’s tally against Australia at Brisbane in November 1970.

* On the other end of the scale, two players, Sydney Gregory and Clem Hill jointly hold the record of being Test cricket's highest run-scorer for the shortest time span of a single day. The first such event was registered during the fifth day of the 1902 Ashes Test at Adelaide when Australia's Sydney Gregory eclipsed Arthur Shrewsbury's record of 1277 runs and extended it to 1282 before getting dismissed for 23. Next day, his captain Joe Darling, unbeaten on 40 overnight, needed just 19 runs to snatch the record form Gregory, which he did and totaled 1293 runs before his innings and the match ended. Five Tests later, in July 1902 at Sheffield, Hill exceeded MacLaren's 1432 run-figure but the later took it back on the very next day. Interestingly, it was quite cat and mouse game in the year 1902, when the Test aggregate run record swapped almost with every innings between Gregory, Darling, MacLaren and Hill, before Clem finally made it his own for 22 years. Curiously enough, the title changed hands nine times between these four players during the calendar year 1902.

* Of the 16 players who have held the record so far since 1877, only 11 were able to hold it to the end of their Test career.

* Joe Darling, Clem Hill, Gary Sobers, Allan Border and Brian Lara are the only left-handed record holders in the list.Click to see the table

A first in four years

* The last Test between these two sides at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium was a bizarre affair. A match which Australia’s Steve Waugh described ‘the most boring Test I've ever seen’. A lame draw where 958 runs were scored off 392 overs @ 2.44 R/o in five days. Graham Thorpe took monotony to new heights as he reached a century that included only two boundaries, the fewest in Test history. Saqlain Mushtaq alone bowled 74 overs and took all eight wickets that fell in England’s first innings before Nasser Hussain declared and denied Saqlain’ a chance to register only the third 10-for in the history of Test cricket.

* For the first time in four years Pakistan is going into the last Test’ leading a three-match series. The last time they did so was against New Zealand in their backyard in 2001. Under Moin Khan, Pakistan won the first match at Auckland, drew at Christchurch before losing the third Test at Hamilton in Inzamam’s debut match as Pakistan captain. Since then Pakistan have played only five’ three-match series and with an exception against Bangladesh, where they won all three in 2003, they have never been able to lead any 3-Test series.

* Going into Lahore Test, Inzamam has accumulated 902 runs in six Tests this year. With the kind of form he is in, there is an opportunity for him to become the only Pakistani to cross the 1,000 run mark In Tests during calendar year 2005. Younis Khan, not playing in today’s game due to the sad demise of his brother, finished the year with 899 Test runs in 8 games. Surprisingly, the next two highest run scorers for Pakistan this year are quite far. Shahid Afridi, also not playing today due to his own antics, is third with 510 runs followed by Salman Butt with 438.

* After going wicket-less in Faisalabad Test, Danish Kaneria now needs only seven wickets to reach 50-wicket mark this year.

* Overall 35 Tests have been staged at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Pakistan won 10, lost and drew 19. Against England they have won just one, lost one and drew five in eight Tests at the same venue.

* Inzi’s monumental 329 is the best individual batting effort while Abdul Qadir’s 9 for 56 against Englishmen in 1987 and Imran Khan’s 14 for 116 vs Sri Lanka in 1982 still remains as the best bowling innings and match bowling analysis respectively.

* Highest team Innings score is 699 for 5 by India in 1989. Lowest innings total is 73 by New Zealand in 2001. Highest fourth innings score successfully chased is 209 for 5 by England in 1961.

Twin-fifty stands and winning targets

* Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt’s 54-run partnership for the first wicket, in Pakistan’s second innings, was their second fifty-plus stand of the match. It was for the first time in two years and seven series that any opening pair has put on two fifty-plus partnerships in a Test match for Pakistan. It was also only the 17th such occurrence for Pakistan in 53 years of Test cricket. See Table - 1 for more details.

* With a lead of 199 runs and just four wickets remaining at the end of day four, any of the three results (four if a tie is included!) are possible on the last day. If the last four Pakistani wickets add another 50 to 70 runs then it would be a fascinating tussle. Statistically speaking, Pakistan has a good record of defending low totals in the fourth innings. They have registered 13 victories while defending scores of 275 runs or less in the last innings - eight of which were during the 90’s - thanks to the two W’s. On the other end of the scale, Pakistan have lost seven games after setting the target between 200 and 275 while on 11 occasions they managed to draw the match. Tables 2, 3 & 4 have the complete details.Click to see the tables

Afridi's moment of madness

* Shahid Afridi’s moment of madness, on the second day of the Faisalabad Test, has cost him a three match ban. A look back into his nine-year old international career reveals some interesting facts. It is for the first time that he has been penalized for violating any ICC Code of Conduct. Though, it was the second occasion for him to be reported to the match referee - after against India in 2nd Test at Delhi from February 4th to 8th 1999 – when he was severely reprimanded and warned (for future conduct) for not leaving the crease immediately after being given out caught behind off Anil Kumble. No penalty was imposed by referee C Smith then. Curiously enough, Afridi became the fifth Pakistani to breach ICC’s Code of Conduct for the ninth time in the calendar year 2005. Table 1 gives the complete details.

* On the day of mixed fortunes, Afridi set some interesting records which went virtually unnoticed. His brutal 92 off 85 balls provided only the sixth instance of a Pakistani smashing six or more sixes in a Test innings. It was the second such performance by him. It was also the joint-third most by any batsman against England. See Table 2 and 3.

* Afridi has now hit 19 sixes in 11 Test innings during the calendar year 2005. The world record of most sixes (in Test cricket) in a year is held by Adam Gilchrist whose 22 sixes were also registered in 2005. See Table 4.

* Inzamam-ul-Haq has equalled Miandad’s and Imran Khan’s record of most hundreds by any Pakistani captain. It was Inzi’s fifth ton in his 16th match as skipper. Interestingly, his five hundreds in 28 innings are almost twice as fast as compared to the other two captains. See Table 5

* Ian Bell’s and Kevin Pietersen’s hundreds, on the third day, provided the 12th instance of two Englishmen making centuries in the same Test innings against Pakistan. Click to see the tables

Forgetting the rule-book

It is a volatile time in history, when the authorities are trying to assist the on-field umpires by the use of more efficient technology; the men-in-white are still getting it wrong. Though, this time the trouble is not with science but ignorance on the part of umpires to follow the rule-book. One cannot teach each and every cricket rule to technology. That’s why there are umpires to give their verdict after consulting it. This is the basic limitation of human created mind (the technology) and the hallmark of divine creation (the human brain).

At 10.45 am PST today at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad, Steve Harmison’s first delivery of the 96th over of Pakistan’s innings to Inzamam-ul-Haq drove firmly back to the bowler. Harmison fielded and flung back at the stumps, the batsman took an instinctive evasive action and that led him to jump a little, so that his back foot came off the ground. An appeal was made and Darrel Hair, standing at square-leg, refereed to the third umpire. The third-umpire, Nadeem Ghauri, after viewing it from different angles declared the batsman run-out!

THE LAWS OF CRICKET 38.2 (2) states:
Batsman not Run out
A batsman is not out Run out if:
(a) he has been within his ground and has subsequently left it to avoid injury, when the wicket is put down."

Clearly, this was a poor case of referrer because if Hair knew his rules well then he would not have signaled it to Ghauri. Ironically, the third umpire, who got much more time to judge the event, trusted his eyes more than his brain. The purpose of third umpire is more than just pressing the red or green button. It is very strange that all the three umpires forgot the rule book and put an end to a magnificent innings which could have took Pakistan beyond 500-run mark.

Two other dismissals, both preceding Inzamam’s one – of Yousuf and Afridi - were also poor umpiring decisions. Afridi’s dismissal required replay assistance which was not used.

Well, one remembers the same of kind incident happened almost 11 years ago in a Test match at Napier between Sri Lanka-New Zealand. Dulip Samaraweera had regained his ground after attempting for a run, but Ken Rutherford’s, New Zealand captain, throw fired straight at the stumps and Samaraweera’s feet. The batsman had no choice but to jump into the air to avoid being hit on the toes. Replays showed him run out with both feet about 10-inches in the air. The umpires involved in that case were Doug Cowie (NZ – square leg umpire) and Evan Watkin (NZ - tv umpire).

Pakistan stun England

Pakistan’s sensational 22-run win over England in the Multan Test, earned them a 1-0 lead in the three match series. Pakistan conceded a lead of 144 runs to England after being bundled out for 274 in their first innings. It thus provided only the 40th instance in Test cricket when a side won despite having a first innings deficit of 100 runs or more. It was also the fourth such instance for Pakistan. See Table 1.

England’s first innings score 418 is the second highest first innings total by any side against Pakistan in a lost match after India’s 449 at Bangalore three Tests ago. See Table 2.

* Marcus Trescothick’s fabulous knock of 193 runs in the first innings is also the second highest by any player against Pakistan in a lost cause after Virender Sehwag’s 201 in Bangalore earlier this year. Trescothick innings is thus the highest by any captain while losing to Pakistan. Table 3 has the details.

* Interestingly, in Pakistan’s last three Test victories, the highest individual scores by the opponent team in the first innings have been quite high: Sehwag’s 201 - Pakistan won by 168 runs, Lara 153 - Pakistan won by 136 runs, Trescothick 193 - Pakistan won by 22 runs

* Correspondingly in all those victories, the opponents scored more than 400 runs in the first innings - India 449, WI 401 and now England 418.

* It's after four years, that Pakistan have won two consecutive Test matches against teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The last such occurrence was against West Indies at Sharjah in 2002 (Pak won 2-0). Pakistan have now won three of their last four Tests.

* The last time Pakistan won the first Test of a series, was two years and 7 series ago, against South Africa at Lahore by 8 wickets. Pakistan went on to win the two-Test series 1-0. Discounting the series’ against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe since the turn of the century (after 01 Jan 2000), Pakistan have registered victories six times in the opening Tests of the 17 series they played. Five times they also went onto win the series while the remaining one was drawn. See Table 4.Click to see the tables

Dhoni scales new peak

During the recently concluded seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni created a new world record of most sixes by a batsman in an ODI series. He broke the previous record of 16 sixes shared by three master blasters - all from subcontinent – Shahid Afridi, Santh Jayasuriya and Sourav Ganguly. While Dhoni’s new record is created in a bilateral ODI series, the three previous record holders still share the title of most sixes in a multi-team event.

Ten of Dhoni’s 17 sixes came in a single innings when he made a stunning unconquered 183 off 145 balls during the third match of the series at Jaipur. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Australia following-on atlast

Australia were made to follow on for the first time in 17 years as England dismissed the visitors for a paltry 218 on the third day of fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. The last time they had suffered such fate was on 19th September 1988 at Karachi against Pakistan. Allan border was leading the side at that time and since then Border(61), Mark Taylor (50), Steve Waugh (57), Adam Gilchrist (6) and Ricky Ponting (16) never led a side that was asked to bat again by the opposition captain until Michael Vaughn asked Ponting (in his 17th match as captain of Australia) yesterday morning. Interestingly it was only for the 39th time that Australia have been followed on in the last 128 years and for the 18th time in last 50 years. For readers interest the accompanying table presents the list of follow on enforced on Australia in the last 50 years.Click to see the table

Most runs in a day's play

New Zealand amassed 452 for 9 against Zimbabwe on the first day of the recently concluded Harare Test. It was the fifth highest number of runs scored by a side on the first day of a Test match and the ninth most by a side in any day’s play. Interestingly, the world record of most runs for both sides in a day is 588 (for the loss of 6 wickets) on the 2nd day of the Old Trafford Test between England and India in 1936 [Scores: England 398-6; India 190-0]. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details.Click to see the table

100 in 100th ODI

On June 16, during the first game of the NatWest triangular series against Bangladesh at The Oval, England’s Marcus Trescothick smashed a brilliant unbeaten 100 to romp his side to a ten-wicket win with 25.1 overs to spare. Trescothick became only the sixth player to score a century in his 100th one-day international. Just for record, Pakistan’s Yousuf Youhana is the only player to register tons in his 100th as well as 101st ODI match. Trescothick also provided the third instance of a player scoring atleast nine 100s in his first 100 ODI’s. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details.Click to see the table

Akmal catches a new mark

During the recently concluded two-Test series against West Indies, Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal created a new world record of most dismissals by a keeper in a two-Test series. Akmal took 16 scalps behind the stumps, nine of which came in the second match of the series. The previous record in this regard was held by Kevin John Wright of Australia who dismissed 14 batsmen during the 1978-79 two-match series held in Australia. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Inzi's world record

By making a superb unconquered 117 against West Indies at Kingston, Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq registered his 22nd century in the 168th innings of his 101st Test match. It was his second successive hundred in as many as matches. Inzamam had made a masterful 184 in his 100th Test against India at Bangalore in March this year. By doing the same in Kingston, Inzamam thus became the first man on the planet to score Test 100s in 100th as well as 101st Test. Just for record, there have been four other players - Gordon Greenidge (149), Javed Miandad (145), Alec Stewart (105) and Colin Cowdrey (104) - who made tons in their 100th Test match. But none of them went on to make another one in the very next. Similarly, two players, Brian Lara (115) and Sir Vivian Richards (146) made centuries in their 101st Test after not much success in their 100th appereance.

Pakistan batting: falling with unity!

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Pakistan: unpredictably unpredictable!

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Bazid completes the set!

On May 26, by playing the first Test against West Indies at Bridgetown Barbados, Pakistan's Bazid Khan provided only the second instance of three generations of the same family playing Test cricket. The famous Headley’s have the distinction of completing the first set. George Headley, the first truly world-class West Indian batsman, played 22 Tests for the West Indies between 1930 and 1954. He smashed six Test centuries before his 22nd birthday – a feat that stood for 63 years until it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar in 1994. He was rated by some to be better than even the Don. The great leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett, who had bowled to Bradman, Hobbs and Headley, rated Headley the greatest on-side player he had come across. Sir Neville Cardus one of finest authorities on the game, rated him the greatest player on all wickets in the period between the two wars. The `Atlas`, as CB Fry called him, never failed in a single Test series during a 22-Test career that saw him amass 2,190 runs at 60.83. After George it was the turn of his son Ron - an elegant left-hander - to keep alive the Headleys name. Though never in George's class, Ron, who played his cricket in England, proved a more than useful county cricketer, playing a part in Worcestershire winning the county championship on three occasions. He also played two Tests and a single ODI for West Indies in 1973. Ron’s son Dean Headley, a decent seamer and a useful all-rounder, featured in 15 Tests and 13 one-day games for England between 1996 and 1999. A troubling back injury forced him into early retirement.

Bazid's father, Majid Khan played 63 Tests and 23 one-day internationals, between 1964 and 1983. Started his career as a pace bowler, Majid proved his prowess with such a grace and effortless batting that he was called ‘the Majestic Majid’. Majid’s father Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Khan, played four Test matches for India in the 1930s and, after Partition, made an important contribution as a player, administrator and selector to the development of cricket in Pakistan. He is also famous for killing a sparrow in flight while playing for Cambridge against MCC at Lord's in 1936. Interestingly, two other members of the same Khan family also played for Pakistan - Javed Burki and Imran Khan – both are nephews of Jahangir and cousins of Majid.

Bazid’s selection in the ongoing Bridgetown Test also created another record. He and his father (Majid) became only the fifth father-son pair to feature in both forms of cricket (Test & ODI’s), the others being England's Colin Cowdrey and Chris Cowdrey, New Zealand's Lance and Chris Cairns, India's Yograj and Yuvraj Singh and West Indies' Ron Headley and his son Dean Headley who played for England. Of these five father-son pairs, only four have played for the same country in both forms of the game.

Top-order batting heroics in ODI’s

On May 22, during the third match of the ODI series at St. Lucia, Pakistan’s top five batsmen made score of 40 or more. This provided only the third such instance in ODI history. The other two instances were recorded at Dhaka on April 14, 2003 by South African against Bangladesh and on April 12, 2005 at Ahmedabad by Pakistan against India. Interestingly, it was also the seventh such instance in limited-overs cricket when any five players of a side registered scores of atleast 40 runs or more in a match. Curiously enough, it was for the fourth time that five Pakistan players have performed such feat. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Pakistan seals a rare series triumph

On May 22, by winning the third ODI at St. Lucia Pakistan sealed a rare ‘away’ series victory of their limited-overs international history. It was for the first time that Pakistan have won a bilateral ODI series in West Indies. Pakistan thus became only the second side after South Africa to win all the matches of an ODI (bilateral) rubber played in West Indies. Interestingly, South Africa did so just prior to the start of recent Pakistan-West Indies series when they trounced West Indies by 5-0 scoreline. Now only Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa remain the only major ODI sides without having a home ODI series whitewash. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Crictoon of the day - Running without axe!

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Crictoon of the day - Inzi misses!

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Kabhi Hum Be Thay Team Mein...

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When Qadir won Pakistan a thriller!

An eyewitness account of a classic Pakistan v West Indies encounter during 1987 World Cup at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore on October 16th

Dr. Naveed Yazdani

When I along with my wife entered the great Qaddafi Stadium on that bright and sunny day of October, my heart was sad and heavy. Not to do anything with Cricket but with the sad demise of one of the greatest voices of sub-continent, Kishore Kumar. But once the game began my thoughts started to focus on cricket.

It was a crunch game for the West Indians as they had just lost a nail biter against England at Gujranwala a couple of days back. So it was quite natural for Viv Richards to win the toss and opt for batting first. Desmond Haynes was no stranger to us but little did we know about a slim but well built debutant opener Phil Simmons. And it was Simmons who started to take our bowlers on. A score of 90 plus without losing any wicket was quite ominous and we were beginning to get worried when Tauseef Ahmed struck out of nowhere to remove Simmons for a well played 50. Desmond Haynes was getting frustrated against Saleem Jaffar and could not resist coming down the track and was bowled. Richie Richardson soon top edged Jaffar to be held safely by Ijaz Ahmed and Logie also perished without doing much and we were right back in the game with those four quick wickets.

This was a crucial time in the game as “King� Richards walked out to bat. The Lahore crowd had a strange relationship with Viv; they wanted him to score but not many. And when he flicked Tauseef effortlessly for a huge six over mid wicket, Imran was smart enough to read the script and decided to bring himself back. The second ball of the over was an innocuous full toss which was hit so hard by Viv that I lost the ball completely and thought that I had seen the flattest six of my life, but then I realized that everyone was rushing to Saleem Malik to celebrate the dismissal of Viv. Saleem had held on to a blinder and Imran soon brought the jam packed Qaddafi stadium to its feet by removing Roger Harper on the very next delivery. West Indies could not capitalize on a good start and were all out for 216.

A target of 217 was not huge but a teasing one and Pakistan had a shaky start. Mansoor Akhtar, on whom Imran had so much confidence failed yet another time when his stumps were shattered by Pat Patterson but the crowd became dead silent when the in-form Malik fell cheaply to make Pakistan 2 down for 28. A slow and painstaking partnership between Javed and Rameez was cut short when Viv had Rameez caught brilliantly at wide mid on. Viv dived full length to his left to hold a scorcher of a shot from Rameez just inches from the ground. Our hopes of winning the game were really dented when Hooper had Javed caught and bowled. But then came a match turning partnership between Imran and Saleem Yousaf, the gutsy keeper hitting 7 boundaries and brought Pakistan within a striking distance when the game tilted again in favor of West Indies and Pakistan lost 3 quick wickets and entered the last over at 203 for 9. They still had to get 14 runs from the last over with one wicket in hand and only Abdul Qadir left to face the music.

I will always remember this last over bowled by a young Courtney Walsh for two reasons. One of them obviously brought us to our feet when Qadir, against all odds, went inside out to hit Walsh for a huge six over long off. And the other was an extreme act of sportsmanship from Walsh when he only warned the non striker batsman Saleem Jaffar and did not dislodge the bails otherwise it would have been all over for Pakistan. That gesture won our hearts but we burst into an absolute gleeful dance when Qadir steered the penultimate delivery of the match through point to give Pakistan a sensational 1 wicket win. Hats off to Qadir for not losing his cool and collecting 14 runs from the last over. As soon as the winning runs were hit, Viv could not hide his disappointment and lay motionless on the field for quite sometime while Lahoris were basking in the glory of that great victory, the memory of which has never failed to get me excited even today some 18 years later!

Dr. Naveed Yazdani (annyazdani@hotmail.com) is a freelance Cricket writer and analyst.

Most 100s in a Test match

The recently concluded fourth Test between South Africa and West Indies at St. John’s Antigua turned out to be a great batting feast. Eight individual centuries were scored by eight different batsmen. It thus broke the world record of most number of individual hundreds scored in a Test match. There have been three previous occasions when seven 100’s were scored in a match. The last such instance was also recorded by these two sides at Cape Town in 2003-04. West Indies now lists in three of the first four instances. For readers interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Wicketkeepers taking a Test wicket

On the fifth day of the recently concluded fourth Test against South Africa at St. John’s Antigua, South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher took off pads to bowl some overs for his side. By taking the wicket of Dwayne Bravo, Boucher thus provided only the 13th instance in Test annals when an officially named keeper for a Test took a wicket in the same match. He also became the ninth keeper in Test cricket’s history to take a Test wicket. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Gayle bats and bats and bats!

Chris Gayle became the fourth West Indian and 18th player in Test history to score a triple century when he amassed 317 on the fourth day of the fourth Test against South Africa at St. Johns Antigua. His mammoth innings was studded with 37 fours and three sixes. Gayle also became the first player to record a triple ton against South Africa. The previous best against them was Don Bradman’s magnificent 299* at Adelaide in 1931-32.

England's Andrew Sandham was the first man on the planet to reach 300-mark in Test annals. Australia's Don Bradman and West Indian Brian Lara are the only two batsmen in Test cricket to score two triple centuries. Antigua Recreation Ground has now joined Headingley, Leeds as the only venues in the world to witness three individual triple century scores. For readers interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table

Pak in WI: A tough competition is on the cards

Dr. Naveed Yazdani

Pakistan and West Indies will face each other for three ODI and two Test matches in the coming weeks. Pakistan is basking in the glory of victories against India while West Indies are struggling against the South Africans in Test matches. Nothing can be predicted with certainty but the recent performance of both the sides might establish a trend from where one can perhaps try to project the outcomes.

We will compare the two sides separately for Test and ODIs. For the sake of keeping the focus on recent form and validity, I have considered last 15 Tests and 10 ODIs played by both the sides. Let’s look at their performance under the two versions of the game separately.

Test Matches

Pakistan emerges as clear favorites in this version of the game. The last 15 Tests played by Pakistan are summarized in the Table 1. The same analysis for West Indies is given in Table 2.

Pakistan with an overall win percentage of 33% have performed much better than the West Indian (with a meager win% of 6.67), especially after considering the fact that the sole West Indian Test victory in recent times was against Bangladesh at home!

ODIs

Things are quite close and tighter when it comes to ODIs. West Indies seem to enjoy the benefit of winning a major tournament (ICC Champions Trophy) whereas Pakistan’s moral will be sky high after their 4-2 drubbing of the Indians in India. The performance of these two sides in their last 10 matches is summarized in Table 3:

Pakistan with a better win percentage and better NR/o (Net Runs per Over) has performed marginally better than the West Indians and one can expect a much closer ODI series as compared the Test matches. So watch out for the ODIs, in Tests Pakistan might prove too strong for the West Indies.

Table 1
Pakistan
At Home    Won Lost Drawn Win %
7          3   3    1     42.85
Overseas
8          2   4    2     25.00
Overall
15         5   7    3     33.33

Table 2
West Indies
At Home    Won Lost Drawn Win %
8          1   4    3     12.5
Overseas
7          0   6    1     -
Overall
15         1   10   4     6.67

Table 3
Pakistan
Mt  Won Lost NR  Win% R/o for  R/o against  NR/o
10  6   4    0   60   5.51     5.17         +0.34

West Indies                            
Mt  Won Lost NR  Win% R/o for  R/o against  NR/o
10  5   4    1   50   5.04     4.8          +0.24

Dr. Naveed Yazdani (annyazdani@hotmail.com) is a
freelance Cricket writer and analyst.

Most wickets in a bilateral ODI series

During the recently concluded ODI series against India, Pakistan’s Naved-ul-Hasan grabbed 15 wickets in six games, which is infact the joint third best performance by any bowler in a bilateral ODI series. India’s Javagal Srinath holds the world record in this regard with 17 wickets in seven matches against New Zealand in 2002-03 season. Just for record, Naved’s performance is also the best by any Pakistani bowler in any bilateral series surpassing the previous best of 11 wickets by Waqar Younis in 1990-91 against New Zealand in Pakistan. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details.Click to see the table

Pakistan give India a resound bashing to take series 4-2

Great allround display by the Pakistan side in the sixth and final one-dayer today at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, New Delhi earned them a fabulous series win by 4-2 scoreline. It provided only the first instance in the annals of Limited-overs cricket when a side won a six-match series after losing the first two games. In a five–match series there have also been two such instances - South Africa (3-2) against Pakistan in Pakistan in October 2003 and Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in Bangladesh (3-2) earlier this year.

Pakistan's Yousuf Youhana famous for his fascination with run-outs became a victim of a dubious decision by third-umpire, K Hariharan much to the delight of his country and his own. Now perhaps Pakistan will ask ICC for neutral third umpires! Later, Hariharan was joined by his on-field mate AV Jayaprakash who perhaps trusted his ears more than his eyes when he gave a miles a away missed delivery by Inzamam as a caught behind. Ironically, those two biased decisions were not much savoured by India. Youhana brilliantly executed two stunning run-outs of Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh as Pakistan bowlers joined by spirited fielders ran through the Indian batting line-up giving them a resound bashing by 159 runs.Click to see the series averages

Afridi fuses India

It was murder at Modi Stadium Kanpur. The executioner was Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and sufferers were Indian bowlers and the Indian fans. Never has such a brutality on a cricket patch been witnessed in India and against India. The one innings which can be ranked alongside Afridi’s today’s blitz is Ijaz Ahmed’s unforgettable butchering of Indian bowlers on the night of October 2, 1997 at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Ijaz made a mockery of opposition clubbing every other Indian bowler for sixes and fours in his stunning unconquered knock of 139 off 84 balls.

But Afridi’s savage assault today, remains to be seen to be believed. There were no mishits, edges or playing and missing. Simply it was controlled stroke making against a good bowling attack. And all the strokes were played with a straight bat clearing the fence by quite a distance. Almost 92 percent of Afridi’s 102 runs came in boundaries. His monstrous hit off Zaheer Khan (his sixth six) towards midwicket made him the first man on the planet to blow 200 hits over the boundary in ODIs. The manner in which he maltreated the Indian bowlers, he is liable to be reported to the Human Rights Commission for violating the rights of Balaji, Zaheer, Kumble, Mongia and Harbhajan. There was one chance for India to come back into this match after his mind-boggling smashing and that infact was no chance. Such an innings will perhaps remain etched forever in the memories of those who have witnessed. Well done Afridi!

Players with 100 or more sixes in ODI’s [10]
Six hitters     For    Mt    Inn    6s    6s/Inn
Shahid Afridi   Pak    204    195    203    1.04
ST Jayasuriya   SL     334    325    188    0.57
SC Ganguly      Ind    271    262    168    0.64
CL Cairns       NZ     204    184    147    0.79
SR Tendulkar    Ind    347    338    144    0.43
Inzamam-ul-Haq  Pak    341    317    133    0.42
IVA Richards    WI     187    167    126    0.75
Wasim Akram     Pak    356    280    121    0.43
BC Lara         WI     251    244    110    0.45
PA de Silva     SL     308    296    102    0.34

Fastest ODI innings

On April 15, during the fifth match of the six-match ODI series against India at Kanpur, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi hammered a marvelous 102 off just 46 balls with a phenomenal strike rate of 221.73 runs (per 100 balls). It thus provided the 28th instance in the shorter version of the game, when a single batsman scored 50 or more runs with a strike rate of atleast 200 runs per 100 balls. It was also the fifth time that Afridi has done so in an ODI match. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the Table

A new high for Pakistan

Pakistan successfully chased India’s total of 315, in the fourth game of the six-match ODI series at Ahmedabad. It was actually Pakistan’s best successful run chase in all ODI’s and only the joint fifth best by any team in the shorter version of the game. It was also only for the 12th time that a side has successfully chased a total or 300 runs or more in a match. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details. Click to see the Table

Inzamam gives the kiss of life!

On April 12, in the fourth match of the one-day series between India and Pakistan at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, Inzamam-ul-Haq pierced a glorious boundary past point off the last ball of the day by Sachin Tendulkar, to register a sensational three wicket win for his side. Inzamam became only the 10th batsman for the 11th time to score a winning hit off the last ball of an ODI match. Lance Klusener still remains as the only batsman to perform such feat twice. Curiously enough, almost to the day 19 years ago (on April 18, 1986) Javed Miandad smashed Chetan Sharma a stunning six off the final ball of the match to take Pakistan to its first ever ODI title triumph. Ahmedabad game was also the 23rd instance of a side winning a one-day international off the last ball of the match. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details.Click to see the Tables

Inzamam’s dubious distinction

On April 5, during the second match of the six-match ODI series against India at Visakhapatnam, Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq equalled a dubious world record of one-day cricket history. By getting himself run-out for the 38th time in his ODI career, the Pakistan captain equalled the tally of his former teammate Wasim Akram to become the poorest runner between the wickets in the shorter version of the game. Curiously enough, Inzamam has also ran his partners out no less than 30 times in ODI’s. This gives him a total of 68 run-outs, out of the 633 partnerships he had with different players in his 338 match career. Interestingly, Australian Steve Waugh and Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga precede Inzamam in terms of most run-outs in partnerships. Another current Pakistani batsman Yousuf Youhana who has a uncanny knack of running himself or his partners out every now and then is already part of this dubious list with 56 total run-outs and counting! For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details.Click to see the Tables

Pakistan: washed away by Dhoni!

On April 5, during the second match of the six-match ODI series against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed a brilliant 148 off 123 balls to help his in posting a mammoth total of 356 runs in the allotted 50-overs. It thus provided the 32nd instance of a wicketkeeper scoring a century in an ODI innings. Interestingly, Dhoni became only the second Indian wicketkeeper, after Rahul Dravid, to post a one-day international century. He surpassed the previous best of 145 by Dravid as the highest score by an Indian keeper in the shorter version of the game. Dhoni’s blitzkrieg innings is also the second highest individual score by any wicketkeeper in all ODIs after Australia’s Adam Gilchrist’s 172. For the interest of the readers here under are the details.Click to see the Tables

Inzamam-ul-Haq: 100 not out!

On the first day of the third Test against India at Bangalore, Inzamam-ul-Haq became the 31st cricketer, the fourth Pakistani and the 22nd batsman to play 100 Tests. Inzamam also became only the only the fifth player after Gordon Greenidge (149), Javed Miandad (145), Alec Stewart (105) and Colin Cowdrey (104) to score a century in the 100th Test. Inzamam took 12 years and 293 days to reach this milestone after making his debut against England at Edgbaston on June 04, 1992.

The exclusive club of cricketers with 100 or more Test appearances now includes eight Australians, seven Englishmen, seven West Indians, four Indians, four Pakistanis and one South African. Colin Cowdrey was the first 100-Test centurian when he did so in 1968. The next 37 years, since then, saw 30 more players reaching this landmark. The 100 Test-men include 22 specialist batsmen, four all-rounders, three specialist bowlers and two wicket-keeping batsmen. India's Sachin Tendulkar, at 29 years 134 days, was the youngest to appear in his 100th Test, whereas England's Geoff Boycott at 40 years 254 days, was the oldest. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details. Click to see the Table

400 in each innings of a Test

During the recently concluded second Test against Pakistan at Kolkata, India made 400 plus runs in each innings of the match. It thus provided only the seventh instance in the annals of Test cricket when one side registered 400 totals in both innings of a Test match. It was also the first such instance for India and the second against Pakistan by any side. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details. Click to see the Table

Identical totals in both innings

During the recently concluded second Test against Pakistan at Kolkata, India made identical totals in both innings of the match. It thus provided only the third instance for India and tenth overall in the annals of Test cricket when one side registered identical scores n both innings of the match. It was also the third time that side making identical scores also won the match. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details. Click to see the Table

Dravid 9th to score two twin 100's in a match

On the fourth day of the second Test against Pakistan at Kolkata, India’s Rahul Dravid became only the ninth player and the second Indian to score two hundreds in match on two or more occasions. Dravid had previously performed this feat against New Zealand at Hamilton in 1998-99, scoring 190 and 103* in first and second innings respectively. Sunil Gavaskar still remains as the only player in Test annals with three such instances. Dravid also provided the sixth instance of an Indian scoring twin hundreds in a Test. Vijay Hazare is the other Indian after Gavaskar and Dravid to perform such feat. It was also the seventh time that this feat has been performed by any player against Pakistan. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details. Click to see the Tables

Tendulkar youngest to reach 10,000 mark

On the first day of the second Test against Pakistan at Kolkata, India’s Sachin Tendulkar became only the fifth player to cross the 10,000 run mark in Test cricket. He achieved this milestone when he reached 27 during his innings of 52. It was the 194th innings of his 121st match. At the age of 31 years and 327 days he also became the youngest batsman to reach 10,000 run mark. Brian Lara was the previous youngest at the age of 35 years and 103 days. Tendulkar, who made his debut against Pakistan at Karachi in November 1989, took 15 years and 121 days to reach this milestone.

A Rare Hundred for Bucknor

By officiating in the second Test between Pakistan & India at Kolkata, West Indian Steve Bucknor became the first ever Test umpire to stand in 100 Test matches. Bucknor, who began his umpire career way back in 1989, took 15 years and 322 days to reach the landmark. Interestingly, Bucknor has been chosen 16.08 % times of the 622 Test matches played since his umpiring debut. Overall Kolkata Test is Bucknor’s 231st international match as an umpire. England’s David Shepherd holds the world record in this regard. He has so far officiated in 252 international games since June 1983. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.

Most Test matches as an umpire in Test cricket
[Qualification: 40 or more] [10]
Umpire              M      First Match     Last Match
Bucknor, SA         100    28 Apr 1989     25 Jan 2005
Shepherd, DR        87     01 Aug 1985     13 Mar 2005
Venkataraghavan, S  73     29 Jan 1993     20 Jan 2004
Bird, HD            66     05 Jul 1973     24 Jun 1996
Koertzen, RE        60     26 Dec 1992     12 Mar 2005
Hair, DB            59     25 Jan 1992     12 Mar 2005
Harper, DJ          49     28 Nov 1998     13 Mar 2005
Chester, F          48     28 Jun 1924     26 Jul 1955
Orchard, DL         44     14 Dec 1995     28 Mar 2004
Elliott, CS         42     30 May 1957     13 Aug 1974

Akmal Joins The Immortals

On March 12, during the fifth day of the first Test against India at Mohali, Kamran Akmal made a match saving century to help his side to draw the match from the jaws of defeat. Akmal became the first Pakistani and only the seventh wicketkeeper in international cricket to register atleast one century in both forms of cricket. Akmal’s brilliant 109 was also the 10th century by the fifth Pakistani keeper in Test cricket. At the age of 23 years and 58 days he became the second youngest Pakistani and 13th youngest overall keeper to score a Test century. Just for record, Kamran holds the world record of being the youngest ODI keeper centurion [124 vs West Indies on January 19, 2005 @ 23 years & 6 days at Brisbane]. For reader’s interest the accompanying tables have the complete details.

                      Test Cricket  ODI Cricket
Keepers           For 100s Hs       100s Hs   
Flower, A         Zim  12  232*      4   145
Gilchrist, AC     Aus  14  204*      10  172
Kaluwitharana, RS SL   3   132*      2   102*
Parore, AC        NZ   2   110       1   108
Sangakkara, KC    SL   5   230       1   101
Stewart, AJ       Eng  6   173       4   116
Kamran Akmal      Pak  1   109       1   124


 
100s by Pakistani wicketkeepers in Test Cricket [10]
Keeper       Yrs Days Score Vs  Venue         Series
Moin Khan    23  40   115* Aus  Lahore (GS)   1994-95
Kamran Akmal 23  58   109  Ind  Mohali        2004-05
Moin Khan    24  3    117* SL   Sialkot (JS)  1995-96
Moin Khan    24  321  105  Eng  Headingley    1996
Taslim Arif  25  310  210* Aus  Faisalabad    1979-80
Imtiaz Ahmed 27  296  209  NZ   Lahore (LG)   1955-56
Imtiaz Ahmed 30  52   122  WI   Kingston      1957-58
Moin Khan    32  90   137  NZ   Hamilton      2003-04
Imtiaz Ahmed 33  8    135  Ind  Madras (Corp) 1960-61
Rashid Latif 33  110  150  WI   Sharjah       2001-02

Sehwag’s Successive Century Stands

On the second and third day of the Mohali Test, Virender Sehwag was involved in three century partnerships during his epic innings of 173 runs - 113 runs for the first wicket (with G Gambhir), 103 runs for the second wicket (with R Dravid) and 118 runs for the third wicket (with SR Tendulkar). It thus provided only the 25th instance when a single batsman was involved in three or more 100 partnerships during the same Test innings. Sehwag also became only the third Indian to perform such feat. Vinod Kambli and Rahul Dravid are the other two Indians to do so. However, it was the first time that century partnerships were made for first three wickets in the same innings for India. Had Sehwag put on another century stand for the fourth wicket he would have become only the second batsman in Test cricket history to participate in four century partnerships in the same innings. This distinction is held by Hanif Mohammad, who featured in four century stands in Pakistan's second innings of Bridgetown Test in 1957-58. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.

Three century partnerships by Indians
in the same Test innings
Player    Partner     Stand Wkts Vs   Venue   Season
VG Kambli NS Sidhu      107 2nd  Zim  Delhi   1992-93
          SR Tendulkar  137 3rd
          M Azharuddin  107 4th
R Dravid  PA Patel      129 2nd  Pak  R’pindi 2003-04
          VVS Laxman    131 4th
          SC Ganguly    131 5th
V Sehwag  G Gambhir     113 1st  Pak  Mohali  2004-05
          R Dravid      103 2nd
          SR Tendulkar  118 3rd

Sami Completes 50 Test Wickets

On the third day of the first Test against India at Mohali, Mohammad Sami became the 26th Pakistani bowler to complete 50 Test wickets when he dismissed Dinesh Kartik. Sami at the age of 24 years and 14 days became ninth youngest Pakistani bowler to reach the milestone. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.

Breakup of Sami’s Test bowling performance
Vs Mt Overs Mdns Runs W  Best  Avg   B/w   R/o 5/10w
Aus 4 121.5 15   470  6  3-104 78.33 121.8 3.86 -
Ind 4 154   27   540  9  2-92  60.00 102.6 3.51 -
NZ  4 170.4 41   491  14 5-36  35.07 73.14 2.88 2
SA  3 91.3  9    395  5  3-92  79.00 109.8 4.32 -
SL  2 72.9  10   254  9  4-71  28.22 49.00 3.46 -
Zim 2 68    15   188  7  4-53  26.86 58.29 2.76 -