Warner's effort makes the difference
Stats highlights from a high-scoring thriller in the first final of the CB Series in Brisbane
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan
04-Mar-2012
David Warner's 163 is the highest score in ODIs in Brisbane and the second-highest in finals in Australia • Getty Images
Despite David Warner's heroics, Australia were fortunate to come out trumps after a remarkable fightback by Sri Lanka's lower-order batsmen. Here are the interesting numbers from a run-filled day that fast bowlers would love to forget.
- Warner's score is the highest by an Australia batsman against Sri Lanka, surpassing Adam Gilchrist's 154 in 1999. It is also the sixth-highest score by an Australia batsman in ODIs. Warner's effort also becomes the highest individual score in ODIs in Brisbane, going past David Gower's 158 against New Zealand in 1983. His knock is even more remarkable considering that in his six previous innings, Warner only managed an aggregate of 155 runs. In the finals of the tri-series, only Mark Waugh (173) has managed a higher score than Warner. During his innings, Warner faced 157 deliveries, which is eighth on the list of most balls faced by an Australia batsman in an ODI.
- Sri Lanka became the first team to score over 300 in the second innings in ODIs in Brisbane. Their total of 306 is the highest second-innings team score in a final in Australia, surpassing West Indies' 299 in 2001, and is also the seventh 300-plus score in finals played in Australia.
- The match aggregate of 627 runs is the second-highest in a final in Australia and the sixth-highest overall in ODIs played in Australia.
- Sri Lanka were nearly down and out at 144 for 6, but fought back brilliantly and almost pulled off a win. The last six batsmen put on 178 runs, which is a record for Sri Lanka in ODIs. They surpassed the previous best of 176, scored during their chase of 334 against West Indies in Sharjah in 1995. On that occasion, Sri Lanka went on to lose by an even lower margin: four runs.
- The 104-run stand between Nuwan Kulasekara and Upul Tharanga is the highest seventh-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Australia, surpassing the previous best of 90 between Roshan Mahanama and Upul Chandana in 1999. The partnership run-rate of 9.04 is the highest ever for a century stand for Sri Lanka in ODIs against Australia and the third-highest overall for the seventh wicket in ODIs. The century stand is also the highest partnership for the seventh wicket in the tri-series finals in Australia, going past the 102-run partnership between Ajit Agarkar and Hemang Badani in 2004.
- Kulasekara's 73 is the highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman at No.8, going past Kumar Dharmasena's 69 against South Africa in 1997. Kulasekara's strike-rate of 169.76 during his innings of 73 is the highest ever for a Sri Lanka batsman against Australia for a fifty-plus score. It is also the second-highest strike-rate for a fifty-plus score in ODIs in Brisbane, after Martin Guptill's 64 off 34 balls in 2009.
- On a surface that has traditionally favoured fast bowling, the spinners comfortably outperformed the pace bowlers. While the spinners conceded 150 runs at an economy-rate of 4.50 and picked up five wickets, pace bowlers conceded 469 runs at an economy rate of 7.17 while picking up 11 wickets. It is also the third time in ODIs that Australia's pace bowlers have conceded more than seven runs an over (minimum 20 overs bowled in innings).
- Australia's score of 321 is their sixth-highest in a tournament final and the fifth-highest in a final at home. It is also their second-highest total in a final against Sri Lanka after the 368 in Sydney in 2006. Australia, who scored over 300 for the 61st time in the first innings, have the joint-best win-loss ratio (14.00) with Pakistan for teams that have scored 300 or more at least 20 times.
- David Hussey's 4 for 43 is his second-best bowling performance in ODIs. It is also the fifth-best bowling performance by an Australia spinner in ODIs against Sri Lanka and the best ever by an Australia spinner in Brisbane.