Stats Analysis

Bat first, score 300-plus, win match

Stats preview to the Champions Trophy semi-final between Australia and England

S Rajesh
S Rajesh
01-Oct-2009
After clashing seven times in the 50-over format over the summer, Australia and England will meet again with far more at stake on Friday - a place in the Champions Trophy final. England's presence is quite unexpected, considering how poorly they performed in the home series, but it only shows there isn't much to choose among the top seven sides in one-day cricket. Australia have an overall advantage over England in ODIs, and that extends to games played in neutral venues as well - in seven such matches, Australia have won five, including the last three. They've only played once in South Africa - in Port Elizabeth during the 2003 World Cup - when Australia scraped home by two wickets in a low-scoring thriller. Only four players from that game are around for Friday's encounter - Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Paul Collingwood and James Anderson.
Aus v Eng in ODIs
Venue Total ODIs Aus won Eng won Tied/ NR
Australia 50 30 19 0/ 1
England 43 23 17 2/ 1
Neutral 7 5 2 0/ 0
Comparing the numbers for the two teams in the tournament so far, Australia are slightly ahead. They are the only team who haven't been defeated, and have a batting average of 36 and a bowling average of less than 29. England's batting stats have been spoiled by their limp performance on a difficult pitch against New Zealand, when they were bundled out for 146. That's brought their batting run-rate down to 4.93.
Australia and England in the 2009 Champions Trophy
Team Runs scored Bat ave Runs rate Wkts taken Bowl ave Econ rate
Australia 715 35.75 5.01 15 28.66 4.44
England 682 31.00 4.93 25 26.40 5.29
Australia also have an advantage in the manner in which they have utilised the Powerplay overs. They've been very consistent in the first ten overs, scoring 57, 49 and 50, and losing one wicket each time, for an overall average of 52. In the fielding Powerplays (overs 11 to 15) the scoring rate has decreased slightly but Australia have lost only one wicket in 15 such overs. And they've made good use of the batting Powerplays, scoring at nearly nine runs per over (69 for 1 versus West Indies, 42 without loss against India and 23 for 1 against Pakistan).
England, on the other hand, have been plagued by poor starts, averaging 17.83 per wicket and 3.57 per over in the first ten. They did reasonably well against South Africa, scoring 48 for 1, but struggled against Sri Lanka (36 for 2) and New Zealand (23 for 3). Some of that, though, was also due to the pitches on offer in Johannesburg. The poor starts have also meant they've been forced to consolidate during the fielding Powerplays, scoring at only 3.33 per over.
How the teams fared with the bat in the Powerplays
Team Type of Powerplay Runs per wkt Runs per over
Australia Mandatory 52.00 5.20
  Fielding 68.00 4.53
  Batting 67.00 8.93
England Mandatory 17.83 3.57
  Fielding 50.00 3.33
  Batting 31.50 6.30
As bowling units, though, there isn't that much to separate the two teams during the Powerplay overs. England have taken five wickets in the first ten, and seven during the batting Powerplays.
How the teams fared with the ball in the Powerplays
Team Type of Powerplay Runs per wkt Runs per over
Australia Mandatory 53.00 5.30
  Fielding - 4.10
  Batting 15.00 6.00
England Mandatory 32.80 5.47
  Fielding 40.00 4.00
  Batting 13.00 6.07
Australia have played two of their three group games in Centurion, the venue of the semi-final, but only one of them - the washed out match against India - was a day-night fixture. England's only game at this venue resulted in a fantastic 22-run win for England. In fact, the three completed day-night games in Centurion have all have been won by the team batting first, who've all scored more than 300. That should offer some hint to the captain who wins the toss on Friday.
Day-night games at the two venues in the Champions Trophy
Venue Matches Runs per wkt Runs per over Won by team bat first/ second
Centurion 4 35.14 5.94 3/ 0
Johannesburg 4 21.44 4.20 0/ 4

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo