India's South African Blues & the ignominy of consecutive 100+ run ODI losses.

Indian batsmen have once again been found wanting in the pacy and bouncy tracks of South Africa. The lack of dry surfaces meant their spinners could neither be among the wickets nor apply brakes on scoring during the middle overs. The result is India trailing 2-0 in the 3-match ODI series. This is the first series loss for India since 1-2 loss against arch rivals Pakistan at the start of this year. In between they won 6 tournaments including the ICC Champions Trophy in England. It’s not just the score line which is worrying the fans & management alike but the margin of defeats in the 2 games so far. India lost the first ODI at Johannesburg by a whopping 141 runs and the second one at Kingsmead again by a huge margin of 134 runs. The latter one was their sixth loss to South Africa in as many matches at the venue.

In this week’s article we look at the instances of consecutive losses in ODIs by a margin of 100 or more runs.



India in South Africa, 2013 - Down & Out!!!

INDIA

Tournament(s) - Pepsi Cup 1998/99 & Coca-Cola Cup 1998/99
 Lost to Pakistan by 123 runs at Jaipur, 04-Apr-1999 (Final of Pepsi Tri Nation Cup)
 Lost to Pakistan by 116 runs at Sharjah, 08-Apr-1999


Tournament - Carlton & United Series 1999-2000

 Lost to Australia by 152 runs at Adelaide, 26-Jan-2000

 Lost to Pakistan by 104 runs at Perth, 28-Jan-2000

Tournament - India in South Africa, ODI Series, 2006

 Lost to South Africa by 157 runs at Durban, 22-Nov-2006

 Lost to South Africa by 106 runs at Cape Town, 26-Nov-2006

Tournament - India in South Africa, ODI Series, 2013

 Lost to South Africa by 141 runs at Johannesburg, 05-Dec-2013
 Lost to South Africa by 134 runs at Durban, 08-Dec-2013

PAKISTAN

Tournament – Sri Lanka in Pakistan ODI series 2008/09
 Lost to Sri Lanka by 129 runs at Karachi, 21-Jan-2009
 Lost to Sri Lanka by 234 runs at Lahore, 24-Jan-2009

SRI LANKA


Tournament - Reliance World Cup, 1987
 Lost to West Indies by 191 runs at Karachi, 13-Oct-1987
 Lost to England by 108 runs at Peshawar, 17-Oct-1987

Tournament - Pak in Sri Lanka, ODI Series 2009

 Lost to Pakistan by 146 runs at Colombo (RPS), 7-Aug-2009
 Lost to Pakistan by 132 runs at Colombo (RPS), 9-Aug-2009

NEWZELAND

Tournament - Wills World Series, India, 1995

 Lost to West Indies by 135 runs at Guwahati, 1-Nov-1994
 Lost to India by 107 runs at Delhi, 3-Nov-1994

Tournament(s) – Sri Lanka in New Zealand ODI Series 2006/07 & Commonwealth bank series 2006/07

 Lost to Sri Lanka by 189 runs at Auckland, 6-Jan-2007
 Lost to Australia by 105 runs at Hobart, 14-Jan-2007

 # The last ODI of the Sri Lanka - New Zealand series was abandoned after the toss.

Tournament(s) - Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2007/08 & Natwest Series 2008

 Lost to Australia by 114 runs at Hobart, 20-Dec-2007
 Lost to England by 114 runs at Chester-Le-Street, 15-Jan-2008

ZIMBABWE


Tournament – South Africa in Zimbabwe ODI Series 1995/96
 Lost to South Africa by 134 runs at Harare, 21-Oct-1995
 Lost to South Africa by 112 runs at Harare, 22-Oct-1995

Tournament – South Africa in Zimbabwe ODI Series 2001/02

 Lost to South Africa by 153 runs at Bulawayo, 23-Sep-2001
 Lost to South Africa by 148 runs at Harare, 29-Sep-2001


Tournament - Zimbabwe in South Africa ODI Series 2004/05
 Lost to South Africa by 165 runs at Johannesburg, 25-Feb-2005
 Lost to South Africa by 131 runs at Durban, 27-Feb-2005

Tournament - Videocon Triangular Series 2005

 Lost to New Zealand by 192 runs at Bulawayo, 24-Aug-2005
 Lost to India by 161 runs at Harare, 31-Aug-2005


Tournament – ICC Champions Trophy 2006
 Lost to Sri Lanka by 144 runs at Ahmedabad, 10-Oct-2006
 Lost to Bangladesh by 101 runs at Jaipur, 13-Oct-2006

Tournament(s) – Zimbabwe in New Zealand ODI Series 2011/12 & Zimbabwe in West Indies ODI Series 2012/13

 Lost to New Zealand by 141 runs at Whangarei, 6-Feb-2012
 Lost to New Zealand by 202 runs at Napier, 9-Feb-2012
 Lost to West Indies by 156 runs at St. George’s, 22-Feb-2013

                                                       Zimbabwe during one of those hammerings...

BANGLADESH

Tournament - Pepsi Asia Cup, 1997

 Lost to Pakistan by 109 runs at Colombo (RPS), 16-Jul-1997
 Lost to Sri Lanka by 103 runs at Colombo (SSC), 24-Jul-1997

Tournament - ICC Champions Trophy 2002/03 & Bangladesh in South Africa ODI Series 2002/03

 Lost to New Zealand by 167 runs at Colombo (SSC), 23-Sep-2002
 Lost to South Africa by 168 runs at Potchefstroom, 3-Oct-2002

Tournament(s) - Bangladesh in Australia ODI Series 2003 & Bangladesh in Pakistan ODI Series 2003

 Lost to Australia by 112 runs at Darwin, 6-Aug-2003
 Lost to Pakistan by 137 runs at Multan, 9-Sep-2003

Tournament(s) - ICC Champions Trophy 2004 & New Zealand in Bangladesh ODI Series 2004/05

 Lost to West Indies by 138 runs at Southampton, 12-Sep-2004
 Lost to New Zealand by 138 runs at Chittagong, 2-Nov-2004

Tournament - Asia Cup, 2010

 Lost to Sri Lanka by 126 runs at Dambulla, 18-Jun-2010
 Lost to Pakistan by 139 runs at Dambulla, 21-Jun-2010

* Australia, England, South Africa & West Indies never lost 2 consecutive ODIs with a 100+ margin.

* Zimbabwe (6), Bangladesh (5), India (4), New Zealand (3), Sri Lanka (2) and Pakistan (1) suffered the    ignominy at least once.

* 7 times the feat spanned across 2 tournaments. It occurred once in World Cup and thrice in Champions      Trophy.

* South Africa was the most ruthless when it comes to inflicting the defeat upon opposition with 5 times.

* Sri Lanka lost their next 2 matches in the Reliance World Cup of 1987 by margins of 25 & 113 runs    respectively against West Indies & Pakistan.

* Zimbabwe had a horror run of 4 losses of 100 or more runs in 5 ODIs in 2005. In the other ODI they    lost by 5 wickets against South Africa.

* Zimbabwe is the only side to lose 3 consecutive ODIs by a margin of 100 runs or more.

* Zimbabwe also had lost first match of the series against New Zealand by a margin of 90 runs.

* Zimbabwe’s 3 consecutive losses spanned over a year, which is the most for this record.

* Zimbabwe (twice) and Bangladesh are the only 2 teams to lose by a margin of 150 runs or more in    consecutive ODIs.

* New Zealand (114 runs) and Bangladesh (138 runs) are the only 2 instances of loss by identical margins.

* Zimbabwe (against South Africa on 21-Oct-1995 & 21-Oct-1996) is the only team to suffer this ignominy in consecutive days.

Pietersen,Gayle and century of test matches...

Hope all of you liked my first article on Sachin Tendulkar’s career in numbers. The second article on my blog is all about the players who reached the magical milestone of 100 test matches. In the next few weeks, we are going to see a few more players who joining that elite club. The first one will be Kevin Pietersen who reached there in the first Ashes test match at Woolloongabba which started yesterday. Others who are on the verge of this milestone are Chris Gayle (99), Michael Clarke (98) and Alistair Cook (98). In this blog you will get to know who was the oldest, youngest, fastest, slowest, who reached there with most runs and most wickets and many more.

Overall 56 players have reached the landmark of 100 test matches. Australia leads the pack with 11 players followed by 10 each from India and England. The strength of other teams in this club are - WI (8 players), SA (6), SL (5), Pakistan (4) and NZ (2). The most number of matches for Zimbabwe is by Grant Flower (67 tests) and for Bangladesh is Mohammed Ashraful (61 tests).

The first player to play 100 test matches was Colin Cowdrey of England. He achieved this landmark in the third Ashes test of 1968 at Edgbaston. He was leading English side in the series and he celebrated the occasion with a century, his 21^st. It took another 13 years for someone else to emulate Cowdrey's feat.

First 5 players to play 100 test matches

Player	Team	Debut	100th test	Time	Venue	Match Tally
Colin Cowdrey	Eng	24-Dec-32	11-Jul-68	13y, 227d	Edgbaston	104
Geoffrey Boycott	Eng	21-Oct-40	2-Jul-81	17y, 28d	Lord’s	17 & 60
Clive Lloyd	WI	31-Aug-44	28-Apr-84	17y, 136d	Kingston	20
Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	10-Jul-49	17-Oct-84	13y, 225d	Lahore	48 & 37
David Gower	Eng	1-Jun-78	21-Jul-88	10y, 50d	Leeds	13 & 2

Oldest to play 100 tests:

Player	Team	DOB	100th test	Age
Geoffrey Boycott	Eng	21-Oct-40	2-Jul-81	40y, 254d
Clive Lloyd	WI	31-Aug-44	28-Apr-84	39y, 240d
Graham Gooch	Eng	23-Jul-53	29-Jan-93	39y, 190d
G Greendige	WI	1-May-51	12-Apr-90	38y, 347d
Alec Stewart	Eng	8-Apr-63	3-Aug-00	37y, 117d

Youngest to play 100 tests:

Player	Team	DOB	100th test	Age
Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	24-Apr-73	5-Sep-02	29y, 134d
Mark Boucher	SA	3-Dec-76	11-Jan-07	30y, 39d
Jacques Kallis	SA	16-Oct-75	15-Apr-06	30y, 182d
Kapil Dev	Ind	6-Jan-59	15-Nov-89	30y, 313d
Ricky Ponting	Aus	19-Dec-74	2-Jan-06	31y, 14d

Least time to reach 100 tests:

Player	Team	Debut	100th test	Age
Andrew Strauss	Eng	20-May-04	16-Aug-12	8y, 88d
Kevin Pietersen	Eng	21-Jul-05	21-Nov-13	8y, 123d
Mark Waugh	Aus	25-Jan-91	2-Jan-00	8y, 342d
Mark Boucher	SA	17-Oct-97	11-Jan-07	9y, 86d
Ian Healy	Aus	15-Sep-88	30-Jan-98	9y, 137d

 Most time to reach 100 tests:

Player	Team	Debut	100th test	Age
Graham Gooch	Eng	10-Jul-75	29-Jan-93	17y, 203d
Clive Lloyd	WI	13-Dec-66	28-Apr-84	17y, 136d
Geoffrey Boycott	Eng	4-Jun-64	2-Jul-81	17y, 28d
Saleem Malik	Pak	5-Mar-82	10-Dec-98	16y, 280d
Wasim Akram	Pak	25-Jan-85	29-Nov-00	15y, 308d

Most runs after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Runs	Avg	100s
Brian Lara	WI	8916	52.14	23
Kumar Sanggakkara	SL	8651	55.81	25
Rahul Dravid	Ind	8553	57.79	22
Matthew Hayden	Aus	8508	51.87	30
Virender Sehwag	Ind	8487	50.51	23

Highest batting average after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Runs	Avg	100s
Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	8405	57.96	30
Rahul Dravid	Ind	8553	57.79	22
Ricky Ponting	Aus	8253	57.71	28
Javed Miandad	Pak	7694	57.41	22
Jacques Kallis	SA	7940	56.31	24

 
Most centuries after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Runs	Avg	100s
Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	8405	57.96	30
Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	8479	52.33	30
Matthew Hayden	Aus	8508	51.87	30
Ricky Ponting	Aus	8253	57.71	28
Kumar Sangakkara	SL	8651	55.81	25
Greame Smith	SA	8173	50.14	25

Most wickets after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Wickets	Avg	5-wkts
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	593	22.37	49
Anil Kumble	Ind	485	27.98	31
Glenn McGrath	Aus	451	21.73	24
Shane Warne	Aus	444	26.56	21
Harbhajan Singh	Ind	411	32.38	25

Best bowling average after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Wickets	Avg	5-wkts
Glenn McGrath	Aus	451	21.73	24
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	593	22.37	49
Wasim Akram	Pak	409	23.17	25
Shaun Pollock	SA	391	23.25	16
Courtney Walsh	WI	367	25.64	15

 Most 5 wicket hauls after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Wickets	Avg	5-wkts
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	593	22.37	49
Anil Kumble	Ind	485	27.98	31
Ian Botham	Eng	383	28.24	27
Wasim Akram	Pak	409	23.17	25
Harbhajan Singh	Ind	411	32.38	25

 Highest individual scores in 100th test:

Player	Team	Wickets
Inzamam ul Haq	Pak	184
G Greenidge	WI	149
Javed Miandad	Pak	145
Ricky Ponting	Aus	143*
Graeme Smith	SA	131

 Best bowling figures in an innings in 100th test:

Player	Team	Wickets
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	6/54
Shane Warne	Aus	6/161
Anil Kumble	Ind	5/89
Daniel Vettori	NZ	4/36
Kapil Dev	Ind	4/69

 Most catches in 100^th test:

Player	Team	Catches
Mark Waugh	Aus	4
Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	3
Mark Boucher	SA	3
Allan Border	Aus	3

·         14 players lead their sides during their 100^th test.

·      The years in which most players completed the 100th test are : 2006(8 players); 1998 (5); 1988 (4); 2000(4); 2005(4)

·         Ian Healy was the first wicket keeper to play 100 tests. Mark Boucher is the only other wicket keeper to do the same. Alec Stewart and Kumar Sangakkara played 82 & 48 tests respectively  as a wicket keeper.

·         Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart played their 100^th test the same match as did Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Stephen Fleming.

·         Graham Thorpe and Andrew Strauss played exactly 100 tests. Mohammed Azharuddin is the only player to end up on 99 tests.

·         KapilDev was the first bowler to play 100 tests.

·         Allan Border (153), Mark Waugh (107) and Sunil Gavaskar (106) are the only players to play 100 or more tests consecutively. Among the current players Alistair Cook (96), AB de Villiers (87) and Brendon McCullum (79) leads the list.

·       Ricky Ponting is the only player to score 2 centuries on his 100^th test. He achieved this against South Africa at Sydney in 2006.

·         Miandad scored 163 on debut, 280*(his personal best) in 50^th test and 145 in 100^th test.

·         Viv Richards took his 100^th catch in 100^th test.

·         Gordon Greenidge scored 93 & 107 on debut and 149 in his 100^th test.

·         Brian Lara scored a double century in his 99^th test, a fifty in his 100^th test and a century in his 101^st test.

·         Among players with 100 or more tests, Stephen Fleming and Andrew Strauss are the only 2 non-wicket keepers who never bowled.

·         Ian Botham took a 5-wicket haul on his debut and a century in his 50^th test.

·         Kirsten scored a century and bagged a duck in his 50^th test.

·         Ricky Ponting is the only player to win 100 or more tests.

·         Graeme Smith is the only player to captain in 100 or more tests.

TAILENDER

Pietersen served as a commentator for ESPN-Star during the ICC World T20 in SL as he was not a part of English squad following a disciplinary action from the ECB. Chris Gayle brought Gangnam style celebration during the tournament. Click here to watch who is better in Gangnam dance -  Pietersen or Gayle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld9ZjgPyQRk