The most successful batsmen against Murali

Gautam Gambhir has been superb against Muttiah Muralitharan in the CB Series, with 42 runs from 39 balls without being dismissed © AFP Enlarge

Just one match short of the halfway stage, this ongoing edition of the triangular series in Australia is turning out to be one of the most closely fought in a long time. All three teams have obviously been evenly matched, but there have also been several individual match-ups that have made for fascinating viewing. Among the most interesting aspects of the tournament has been the manner in which Muttiah Muralitharan has been rendered ineffective by batsmen from both rival sides.

In the three matches he has played so far, Murali has returned rather ordinary figures of 2 for 129 from 25 overs, which works out to 64.50 runs per wicket, at an economy-rate of 5.16 runs per over. If he continues at this rate, this will be only the third time in his entire career that he'll have conceded more than five runs per over through an entire series (excluding one-off ODIs). One of his two previous instances was also in Australia, during his previous triangular tournament in Australia, the VB Series in 2005-06: in 11 matches then, Murali took 16 wickets at an average of 34.31 and an economy-rate of 5.13.

It isn't a coincidence that the two other teams in this CB Series are the ones who have, historically, played Murali better than most other sides. Australia scored only 42 in his ten overs against them, but didn't concede a wicket to him, while India took 87 from his 15 overs in two games. On his previous tour to the country, the Australians had been equally ruthless against him, scoring nearly 400 runs from his 70 overs during the VB Series.

The table below looks at the performances of Murali against each team in ODIs since 2002. While England have managed to not lose wickets to him, they've only scored at 3.86 runs per over; Australia, on the other hand, have scored at a healthy clip without allowing Murali to take too many wickets.

The manner in which teams have played Murali is also revealing: West Indies, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Zimbabwe have struggled to get him off the square, not scoring off more than 65% of the deliveries that he has bowled at them. South Africa, on the other hand, have managed to nudge singles off him better than any other team - they've scored singles from 38% of his deliveries, while Australia have done so from 33% - but the boundaries have been almost impossible to find for them: six fours and four sixes from 514 deliveries tells the story. West Indies have scored boundaries off a relatively high percentage of Murali's deliveries, but have spoilt their case with a high dot-ball percent, which suggests they've adopted an all-or-nothing strategy against him.

Australia - and India and England, to a lesser extent - have found a much better blend of attack and caution against him. Australia have the lowest dot-ball percent, and a lower boundary percent than West Indies, Zimbabwe and India, indicating that they have adopted a relatively risk-free approach and yet managed to score at a reasonable rate.

Among Australian batsmen, Ricky Ponting best exemplifies that approach: in 220 deliveries that he has faced from Murali in ODIs since 2002, he has allowed just 99 dot-balls, worked 87 singles, 15 twos, seven threes, 11 fours, and a six, which means just 50 of his 188 runs have been scored in boundaries. Sachin Tendulkar hasn't been dismissed in the 82 balls he has faced from Murali during this period, but he has relied more on boundaries to get his runs, with six fours and a six among the 69 runs he has scored off him.

The batsman who has impressed most against Murali in the CB Series has been Gautam Gambhir: in 39 balls he has scored 42 runs, but only 16 of them came in boundaries. Overall, Gambhir has scored 53 at a run a ball, with a superb dot-ball percentage of just 43%.

There are others, though, who haven't had quite the same amount of success against Murali. Jacob Oram has bludgeoned some of the best attacks in the world, including the Australians, but against Murali he has come a cropper, with four dismissals in 55 balls and a run-rate of less than two runs per over. Virender Sehwag would do well to have a chat with Gambhir, his team-mate for Delhi, on how to tackle the Murali menace, while Inzamam-ul-Haq was another subcontinent giant who came out second-best in his battles against one of the best spinners in world cricket.