Dominant bowling in ODI matches

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Time to look at instances where bowlers have put up commendable performances in the 50-over version of the game. Our expert analyses it all.

Since the numbers of overs for a bowler is limited in ODIs, it is not very easy for a bowler to dominate the bowling the same way that a batsman can do. We saw, in our last articles, instances where a batsman dominated the stay at the crease. Here, let us have a look at the forgotten species, the bowlers. Since we do not have specific information on bowling spells, I have done this analysis based on the complete bowling spell.

This time, the criterion is that the bowler should have captured 5 wickets or more. Otherwise there would be cases of pseudo-domination by bowlers who capture the only wickets to fall.

The formula used is given below.

             Bowling strike rate of the bowler (Balls / wkts)

Index =————————————————————————————

            Bowling strike rate of the rest of the bowlers

The table is ordered on this index value and the bowling spells in which the bowler performance is better than his compatriots’ performance by a factor of 7.5 or more are listed. Let us see the table now.

England scored 204/8 in 50 overs against Australia. Out of this reasonable total, Bichel captured 7 wickets in 10 overs, a BpW value of 8.57. The rest of the bowlers bowled 240 balls to capture a single wicket. The amazing strike rate ratio of 28.00 is the highest in ODI history.

In a rain-affected match, Zimbabwe scored 150/7 in 32 overs. Edwards captured 6 wickets in 7 overs for a BpW figure of 7.00. The other bowlers captured a single wicket in 150 balls for a very high ratio of 21.43.

This was a high scoring match. Sri Lanka scored 302/7 in 50 overs. Sohail Tanvir captured 5 wickets in 10 overs leading to a BpW value of 12.00. His teammates captured two wickets in 240 balls which leads to a ratio of 10.00.

There are seven other bowlers who have a strike ratio of 10.00.

The striking feature of this table is that great bowlers like Waqar Younis, Ambrose, Donald, Muralitharan, Kumble, Pollock and Bond are sharing the marquee space with average bowlers like Bichel, Edwards, Jayasuriya, Dillon, Nehra, de Mel, Maharoof et al and with part-timers like Robin Singh,  Aftab Ahmad, Srikkanth, Klusener, Sehwag et al.

A major surprise is that Waqar Younis appears twice, as do Jayasuriya and unbelievably, Srikkanth.

Dominant batting in ODI matches

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

We take a look at one-dayers that have been completely one-sided with individual batsmen scoring over 80% of the targets set.

When New Zealand met Zimbabwe during December 2007, it was a slaughter of the innocent. Zimbabwe scored 93 and New Zealand reached the target in 6.0 overs (yes, you read it right; it was 6.0 and not 16.0). McCullum scored 80 in 28 balls. This is the second fastest 50+ innings in history of ODI cricket. His score of 80 out of 95 was well over 80% of the runs scored while he was at crease. I started wondering whether this is the most dominant batting by a batsman in ODI cricket. However, the juggernaut that is Shahid Afridi came appearing in front of me and I could not be so sure. So I did my usual analysis and here is the table.

The only criterion is that the innings should be 50 or more. Only the innings, in which the batsmen scored above 80% of the team runs added while at crease, have been shown.

Batsman	MtId	Year	For	Vs	In	Out	Runs	OutOf	%
Shahid Afridi	1883	2002	Pak	Hol	85	142	55*	57	96.5
Saleem Malik	0434	1987	Pak	Ind	161	241	72*	80	90.0
Powell R.L	1499	1999	Win	Ind	49	136	76	87	87.4
Shahid Afridi	1794	2002	Pak	Bng	0	97	83	97	85.6
Stewart A.J	0886	1994	Eng	Win	0	62	53	62	85.5
Marillier D.A	1814	2002	Zim	Ind	210	276	56*	66	84.8
McCullum B.B	2660	2007	Nzl	Bng	0	95	80*	95	84.2
Gilchrist A.C	1622	2000	Aus	Saf	0	75	63	75	84.0
Shahid Afridi	1516	1999	Pak	Slk	0	70	58	70	82.9
Shahid Afridi	2205	2005	Pak	Aus	204	272	56*	68	82.4
Saeed Anwar	1144	1996	Pak	Nzl	0	66	54	66	81.8
Blignaut A.M	1966	2003	Zim	Aus	142	208	54	66	81.8
Gayle C.H	2828	2009	Win	Eng	0	98	80	98	81.6
Jayasuriya S.T	2755	2008	Slk	Ind	0	74	60	74	81.1
McCullum B.B	2272	2005	Nzl	Zim	334	397	51*	63	81.0
Shahid Afridi	1125	1996	Pak	Slk	60	186	102	126	81.0
Ervine S.M	1901	2002	Zim	Pak	64	140	61*	76	80.3
Jayasuriya S.T	1223	1997	Slk	Ind	0	91	73	91	80.2

Just as I thought. Shahid Afridi is right there at the top, having scored 96.5% of the runs added while at crease. Again, I have to assure you that you have read it right.

Holland scored 136. Imran and Saeed Anwar added 85. Afridi came in and scored 55 (off 18 balls) out of 57 added off 29 balls. I cannot really visualize this innings. It is bizarre!

At Calcutta during 1987, Pakistan, chasing India’s score of 238 were down and out at 161 for 5 and 171 for 6. Saleem Malik scored a memorable 72 (off 28 balls) out of 80 to win the match for Pakistan.

Powell entered at 49 for 5, chasing India’s total of 225, and scored 76 out of the 87 added while at crease. This was indeed a wonderful innings despite the fact that West Indies lost.

Shahid Afridi has essayed 5 such innings. Jayasuriya has played 2 innings exceeding 80% of the runs added at crease.

Pakistani batsmen have dominated the table with 7 entries, 5 of these by Shahid Afridi.

Just to complete what made me go this route, McCullum’s 80 is in 7th position.

Note the presence of three Zimbabwe batsmen, all not so well known ones. Marillier’s innings deserves special mention since he came in at 210 for 8, chasing the Indian total of 274 and was the reason for possibly the unlikeliest of wins. It was in this match that he introduced the famous “Marillier” shot, 4/6 over the ‘V’ behind the wicketkeeper.

The opening position seems to be the most amenable to such dominating batting with 9 out of the 19 having been in this slot.

One surprise is the absence of even a single Indian batsman in this table. The highest value for an Indian batsman is Sehwag’s 60 out of 76 (78.9%) against Sri Lanka during 2008.

Next week I will look at a different form of domination, this time by ODI bowlers.