Harry gets fifty while Wellington players attack the record books
New Zealand's one-day season came to an end on a successful note at Dunedin
Francis Payne
29-May-2016
New Zealand's one-day season came to an end on a successful note at Dunedin. It was the 27th one-dayer which New Zealand had played since taking on Pakistan at Singapore on 20 August. Nine wins were recorded, 17 matches were lost and one game ended in a no result. Despite the low success ratio, however, New Zealand could still point to victory at the ICC Knockout in Kenya plus a meritorious 3-2 series win against Pakistan.
The series victory against Pakistan was a welcome relief after a string of series losses. Since defeating West Indies 5-0 early in 1999/00, New Zealand had lost five successive series to Australia (1-4), Zimbabwe twice (both 1-2), South Africa (0-5) and Sri Lanka (1-4).
In recent weeks we've been charting Chris Harris's progress on the all-time not outs list. In the fifth one-dayer at Carisbrook Harris was unbeaten when the winning runs were scored, registering his 50th not out in One-Day Internationals. He is only the third player to achieve this milestone as the following table illustates:
Not Outs Matches Steve Waugh 55 306 Mohammad Azharuddin 54 334 Chris Harris 50 178 Arjuna Ranatunga 47 269 Michael Bevan 46 154 Wasim Akram 43 316 Javed Miandad 41 233 Imran Khan 40 175 Kapil Dev 39 225 Allan Border 39 273 Heath Streak 38 122 Hashan Tillekeratne 38 181 Waqar Younis 38 204 Salim Malik 38 283
New Zealand's win in the fourth one-dayer at Christchurch was one of their biggest and their first by 100 runs or more against a Test-playing nation for 10 years. The biggest wins by runs are:
Runs 206 v Australia Adelaide 1985/86 181 v East Africa Birmingham 1975 161 v Bangladesh Sharjah 1989/90 138 v Pakistan Christchurch 2000/01 119 v Holland Baroda 1995/96 116 v Sri Lanka Auckland 1982/83 110 v Pakistan Napier 1984/85 108 v India Dunedin 1989/90 107 v Sri Lanka Dunedin 1990/91 104 v Sri Lanka Colombo 1983/84 103 v England Wellington 1982/83
New Zealand's successful victory chase at Dunedin was also one of their all-time best and by far their highest successful chase in New Zealand. The highest innings by New Zealand batting second are:
301-9 v Australia Christchurch 1999/00 (Lost) 298-6 v England Leeds 1990 (Won) 298-9 v South Africa Brisbane 1997/98 (Lost) 297-6 v England Adelaide 1982/83 (Won) 290-6 v Pakistan Dunedin 2000/01 (Won) 272-6 v Zimbabwe Harare 1992/93 (Won) 266-7 v Pakistan Sharjah 1993/94 (Lost) 265-6 v India Nairobi 2000/01 (Won) 260-5 v Zimbabwe Dhaka 1998/99 (Won) 260 v Australia Dunedin 1999/00 (Lost) 255-6 v Pakistan Nairobi 2000/01 (Won)
Nathan Astle reached his ninth One-Day International century at Dunedin from just 93 balls. The fastest one-day hundreds for New Zealand are now:
balls 75 Chris Cairns v India Christchurch 1998/99 75 Craig McMillan v Pakistan Christchurch 2000/01 85 Chris Cairns v India Pune 1995/96 87 Adam Parore v South Africa Centurion 1994/95 93 Nathan Astle v Pakistan Dunedin 2000/01 94 Ken Rutherford v India Baroda 1994/95 96 Ken Wadsworth v Australia Christchurch 1973/74 96 Ken Rutherford v Sri Lanka East London 1994/95
Astle, along with Stephen Fleming, broke several New Zealand partnerships records with their opening stand at Dunedin. They began with the highest first wicket stand against Pakistan (previously 155 by Astle and Bryan Young at Mohali in 1996/97) and then the highest first wicket partnership against all countries (previously 158 by Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones against Bangladesh at Sharjah in 1989/90).
Their final partnership was worth 193 - the highest for any wicket for New Zealand beating 180 for the third wicket between Adam Parore and Ken Rutherford against India at Baroda in 1994/95. The highest stands for each wicket for New Zealand are now:
wkt 1st 193 Stephen Fleming & Nathan Astle Pakistan Dunedin 2000/01 2nd 130 Bruce Edgar & Martin Crowe India Brisbane 1985/86 3rd 180 Adam Parore & Ken Rutherford India Baroda 1994/95 4th 168 Lee Germon & Chris Harris Australia Madras 1995/96 5th 148 Roger Twose & Chris Cairns Australia Cardiff 1999 6th 130 Ken Wadsworth & Bevan Congdon Australia Christchurch 1973/74 7th 115 Adam Parore & Lee Germon Pakistan Sharjah 1996/97 8th 69 Adam Parore & Dion Nash South Africa Brisbane 1997/98 9th 63 Richard Hadlee & Gary Troup England Brisbane 1982/83 10th 65 Martin Snedden & Ewen Chatfield Sri Lanka Derby 1983
The highest partnerships in one-dayers for New Zealand for any wicket are:
wkt 1st 193 Stephen Fleming & Nathan Astle Pakistan Dunedin 2000/01 3rd 180 Adam Parore & Ken Rutherford India Baroda 1994/95 3rd 171* Martin Crowe & Stephen Fleming India Jamshedpur 1995/96 3rd 170 Nathan Astle & Roger Twose West Indies Christchurch 1999/00 4th 168 Lee Germon & Chris Harris Australia Madras 1995/96 3rd 160 Geoff Howarth & Martin Crowe England Auckland 1983/84 1st 158 Martin Crowe & Andrew Jones Bangladesh Sharjah 1989/90 1st 155 Bryan Young & Nathan Astle Pakistan Mohali 1996/97 1st 153 Mathew Sinclair & Nathan Astle Zimbabwe Wellington 2000/01 1st 152 Glenn Turner & Bruce Edgar England Wellington 1982/83 4th 152 Martin Crowe & Ken Rutherford India Dunedin 1989/90 3rd 152 Craig Spearman & Roger Twose Zimbabwe Harare 2000/01 4th 150 Roger Twose & Chris Cairns South Africa Cape Town 2000/01
In the Shell Trophy, David Kelly hit 212 against Canterbury at Blenheim. This was just the seventh double century for Central Districts since they became a first-class side in 1950/51 and the second highest. The highest innings for CD are now:
242 Martin Crowe v Otago New Plymouth 1989/90 212 David Kelly v Canterbury Blenheim 2000/01 207 Ron Hart v Wellington Wellington 1985/86 203* Mathew Sinclair v Northern Districts Wanganui 1998/99 202* Bevan Congdon v Otago Nelson 1968/69 202* Mark Greatbatch v Otago Palmerston North 1988/89 202 Mark Greatbatch v Northern Districts Rotorua 1995/96
Wellington's Iain O'Brien, who ironically only got his chance in the team when Matthew Walker was suspended, has joined a very short list indeed. With Wellington still to play Pakistan later this month, O'Brien has the chance to become the highest wicket taker in his first season of first-class cricket.
The table of best returns in season of first-class debut currently stands as follows:
Season Wkts Runs Ave William Robertson (Canterbury & NZ) 1893/94 47 570 12.12 Stu Gillespie (Northern Districts) 1979/80 45 998 22.17 Peter Petherick (Otago) 1975/76 42 847 20.16 William Lankham (Auckland) 1882/83 41 259 6.31 Iain O'Brien (Wellington) 2000/01 41 733 17.87
"Wallie" Lankham's extraordinary figures and his subsequent tragic demise make a fascinating tale on their own - something we'll save for another day.
One thing which O'Brien did not achieve was a wicket with his first ball in first-class cricket. However, in the final Shell Trophy match of the season, team-mate and opening batsman Richard Jones (who made his debut back in 1993/94) accomplished the feat when he dismissed Grant Bradburn with a rank full toss. The match concluded at that stage leaving Jones with career figures of 0.1-0-0-1.
The only New Zealanders to take a wicket with their first ball in first-class cricket are:
Ronald Strange (dismissed Tommy Dent) Canterbury v Hawkes Bay Christchurch 1901/02 Stephen Hotter (dismissed Ken Rutherford) Wellington v Otago Dunedin 1988/89 Aaron Barnes (dismissed Mark Lane) Auckland v Central Districts Palmerston North 1993/94 Richard Jones (dismissed Grant Bradburn) Wellington v Northern Districts Wellington 2000/01
One record which did not quite fall in the Wellington versus Northern Districts game (but probably should have) was that for most wicket-keeping dismissals in a season. During the match, Chris Nevin equalled the record of 41 but late in Northern's second innings relinquished the gloves, first to Andrew Penn and then to Mark Jefferson who proceeded to drop a catch, while, ironically, Nevin took a catch at square leg to give Richard Jones a wicket with his first ball.
Subsequently, Nevin did set a new season's mark when he caught Saleem Elahi playing for New Zealand A against Pakistan at Lincoln a few days later and at the end of that match had extended his tally to 44 victims for the season. With Wellington due to play Pakistan later in the month, Nevin has the opportunity to become the first player to make 50 dismissals in one season. His tally of 44 catches so far (45 in all) is already well in excess of anything ever achieved in New Zealand first-class cricket.
The current standings are:
Ct St Total Season Chris Nevin 44 - 44 2000/01 Erv McSweeney 31 10 41 1984/85 Erv McSweeney 35 6 41 1989/90 Ian Smith 32 4 36 1990/91 Ian Smith 30 5 35 1979/80 Warren Lees 29 5 34 1978/79 Ian Smith 32 2 34 1986/87 Lee Germon 31 3 34 1991/92 Chris Nevin 33 1 34 1995/96 Robbie Hart 34 - 34 1997/98
Finally, it's back to the One-Day Internationals and the complete averages for all 27 matches played by New Zealand this season. Only Craig McMillan and Stephen Fleming played in every game while Roger Twose, Chris Harris, Nathan Astle and Adam Parore missed just one. A total of 24 players were involved.
Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St SR RG Twose 26 24 2 907 103 41.22 1 6 12 - 80 CL Cairns 11 10 2 324 102* 40.50 1 1 4 - 89 CD McMillan 27 25 5 758 104* 37.90 1 6 3 - 85 CZ Harris 26 22 7 496 56 33.06 - 2 11 - 70 NJ Astle 26 25 1 728 119 30.33 1 3 14 - 69 L Vincent 8 8 2 162 34 27.00 - - 3 - 64 CM Spearman 7 7 0 188 86 26.85 - 2 4 - 74 SP Fleming 27 25 1 582 85 24.25 - 4 12 - 66 MS Sinclair 6 6 0 143 85 23.83 - 1 1 - 56 JDP Oram 9 8 1 150 59 21.42 - 1 2 - 91 DJ Nash 1 1 0 19 19 19.00 - - 1 - 105 SB Styris 16 11 2 159 48 17.66 - - 4 - 95 AC Parore 26 22 5 266 49 15.64 - - 18 3 68 CJ Nevin 7 6 0 93 68 15.50 - 1 1 1 79 AJ Penn 1 1 0 15 15 15.00 - - - - 65 DL Vettori 12 8 2 60 17* 10.00 - - 3 - 78 GP Sulzberger 3 2 1 9 6* 9.00 - - - - 60 JEC Franklin 12 7 1 52 25* 8.66 - - 2 - 55 DR Tuffey 10 5 2 5 3 1.66 - - 4 - 27 GI Allott 9 4 2 3 1* 1.50 - - - - 20 CS Martin 7 5 1 6 3 1.50 - - 2 - 27 SB O'Connor 11 3 1 2 1* 1.00 - - 4 - 20 PJ Wiseman 5 3 3 19 12* - - - 1 - 44 BGK Walker 4 2 2 7 5* - - - 2 - 50
Name O M R W Ave Best RPO
DR Tuffey 78 4 397 18 22.05 4-24 5.08
CD McMillan 75 3 368 15 24.53 3-20 4.90
PJ Wiseman 25 0 139 5 27.80 4-45 5.56
SB O'Connor 74.4 4 398 13 30.61 5-46 5.33
GP Sulzberger 22 0 102 3 34.00 1-28 4.63
JEC Franklin 99 5 482 14 34.42 3-44 4.86
NJ Astle 137 7 629 18 34.94 3-7 4.59
JDP Oram 38 1 186 5 37.20 2-20 4.89
DL Vettori 104 6 430 10 43.00 3-21 4.13
GI Allott 70 2 397 9 44.11 3-33 5.67
CZ Harris 201.5 6 867 19 45.63 2-31 4.29
SB Styris 129 4 628 12 52.33 3-36 4.86
CS Martin 54 4 270 5 54.00 2-56 5.00
CL Cairns 73.5 5 411 7 58.71 2-62 5.56
BGK Walker 26 3 128 2 64.00 2-43 4.92
AJ Penn 4 1 29 0 - - 7.25