Popular: IPL 2012 | Kirti Azad | ICC rankings | Nick Knight

Series

	Series


England v West Indies
Sri Lanka v Pakistan
County Cricket
Indian Premier League
ICC Intercontinental Cup
More current and future series

Countries

	Countries


Australia	Afghanistan	Other Countries
Bangladesh	Canada	Women's Cricket
England	Ireland	ICC
India	Kenya	Beyond the Test World
New Zealand	Netherlands
Pakistan	Scotland
South Africa	USA
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe

Live Scores

	Live Scores

Fixtures

	Fixtures

Fixtures Home

Live Coverage

Current and Future Tours

International Calendar

Results

	Results

VB Series / Features

Australia v Sri Lanka, VB Series final, Sydney

Murali's nightmare, and an Aussie run-glut

Muttiah Muralitharan conceded 99 off his ten overs against Australia at Sydney, the most expensive ten-over spell in an ODI

S Rajesh and Kanishkaa Balachandran

February 12, 2006

Text size: A | A

Muttiah Muralitharan will not have fond memories of February 12, 2006. A bowler who had conceded more than 70 just once in 268 one-day matches disappeared for 99, the most expensive figures in a ten-over spell in ODIs. His previous-worst was 73, conceded against Pakistan at Nairobi more than nine years ago. Then, at least, he had the consolation of picking up two wickets; here, he wasn't even allowed that solace.

In fact, the VB Series hasn't been a happy time for Muralitharan. In his first match of the tournament, he went for 67 against the Australians, his third-most expensive figures.

Murali's most expensive ODI spells
Versus	Spell	Venue and year	Result
Australia	10-0-99-0	Sydney, 2005-06	Lost by 167 runs
Pakistan	10-0-73-2	Nairobi, 1996	Lost by 82 runs
Australia	10-1-67-0	Melbourne, 2005-06	Lost by 116 runs
New Zealand	10-1-62-1	Hamilton, 1995	Lost by 57 runs
Pakistan	10-0-61-1	Kimberley, 1998	Lost by 4 wickets
India	10-0-60-0	Taunton, 1999	Lost by 157 runs

Australia's score of 368 for 5 is their highest in ODIs, going past their previous highest of 359 for 2 against India in the 2003 World Cup final. This is also the highest team score in Australia, beating the previous best of 359 for 5 made by the home team against India at the same ground, SCG, in the second final of the 2003-04 VB Series.

The fourth-wicket partnership of 237 between Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting is the highest stand for Australia for all wickets in ODIs. This beats the previous best of 234 not out between Ponting and Damien Martyn for the third wicket against India in the 2003 World Cup final at Johannesburg. Click here for the list of highest partnerships for Australia.

Andrew Symonds, who scored 151, came close to beating his own world record for the highest individual score by a No.5 batsman. Symonds's 156 against New Zealand at Wellington in the recent Chappell-Hadlee series remains the highest. Grant Flower of Zimbabwe comes third, with an unbeaten 142 against Bangladesh in 2000-01.

Feeds: S Rajesh

Top

Feedback

S Rajesh

Stats editor Every week the Numbers Game takes a look at the story behind the stats, with an original slant on facts and figures. The column is edited by S Rajesh, ESPNcricinfo's stats editor in Bangalore. He did an MBA in marketing, and then worked for a year in advertising, before deciding to chuck it in favour of a job which would combine the pleasures of watching cricket and writing about it. The intense office cricket matches were an added bonus.

View all articles »