Thirteen wins and counting

The first Test at Lord's, after which Shahid Afridi retired from Test cricket, ended in Australia's 13th consecutive victory against Pakistan in the format. It's the most wins any team has strung together against a particular opponent - surpassing Sri Lanka's 12 victories on the trot against Bangladesh - and Australia have the opportunity to extend it further when the second Test begins at Headingley today.

Australia's winning streak against Pakistan began with a ten-wicket victory at the Gabba in 1999, and includes matches in Sri Lanka, Sharjah and now England. Their unbeaten run against Pakistan is presently 16 Tests, after winning in Rawalpindi and drawing at Peshawar and Karachi in 1998, when Australia toured Pakistan last. For Australia's last defeat against Pakistan, you'd have to revisit Sydney 1995, when Ijaz Ahmed scored a hundred and Mushtaq Ahmed took nine wickets in a 74-run win. The closest Pakistan came to ending the domination was also at the SCG, in 2009-10, when they collapsed for 139 while chasing a target of 176.

The asterisk against an entry in the tables indicates an ongoing streak of victories by a team against another. Apart from Australia's against Pakistan, the only other ongoing streaks comprising more than five Tests are by various teams - Sri Lanka, South Africa (8), England (8) and Pakistan (6) - against Bangladesh. India's fourth out of seven Tests against Bangladesh was a rain-affected draw, which ended their run, while another rain-affected draw interrupted New Zealand's wins against Bangladesh at seven Tests. West Indies and Zimbabwe have both lost Tests against Bangladesh, while Australia have played only four Tests against them.

The longest unbeaten run in Test cricket - 47 Tests without defeat - belongs to England against New Zealand. It began with an eight-wicket win in New Zealand's first Test, in Christchurch in 1930, and continued for more than four decades. New Zealand's maiden victory against England finally came at the Basin Reserve in 1978, when Richard Hadlee, who took 10 in the match, shot out the visitors for 64 to secure a 72-run win. As a result, debutants John Wright and Stephen Boock tasted victory in their first Test; in contrast, Bert Sutcliffe, a New Zealand legend, went 42 matches without a win.

England were also involved in the next two longest unbeaten streaks, though they were on the wrong end of one of them. England did not lose to Pakistan in 30 Tests between 1961 and 1982 and did not win against West Indies in 29 Tests between 1976 and 1988.

Most consecutive Tests without a loss against a team

Team	Opposition	Mat	Start Match		Scorecard		End Match		Scorecard
England	v New Zealand	47	Jan 10, 1930		Test 186		Feb 28, 1975		Test 758
England	v Pakistan	30	Oct 21, 1961		Test 512		Jul 29, 1982		Test 931
West Indies	v England	29	Jun 3, 1976		Test 777		Aug 4, 1988		Test 1102
Australia	v South Africa	24	Feb 17, 1911		Test 114		Dec 5, 1952		Test 359
West Indies	v India	24	Nov 10, 1948		Test 304		Feb 18, 1971		Test 680
Pakistan	v India	22	Jan 29, 1980		Test 871		Jan 28, 1999		Test 1442
Australia	v New Zealand	21*	Nov 12, 1993		Test 1235		Mar 27, 2010		Test 1957
England	v South Africa	18	Jul 13, 1935		Test 244		Mar 5, 1949		Test 313
Australia	v England	18	Jan 10, 1987		Test 1065		Aug 5, 1993		Test 1230
Pakistan	v India	17	Nov 28, 1952		Test 358		Dec 4, 1979		Test 863
India	v Sri Lanka	17	Sep 14, 1985		Test 1025		Feb 24, 1999		Test 1445
England	v New Zealand	17	Aug 21, 1986		Test 1051		Jul 1, 1999		Test 1455
West Indies	v India	16	Jan 24, 1979		Test 842		Dec 26, 1987		Test 1088
England	v West Indies	16	Jun 29, 2000		Test 1503		Jun 15, 2007		Test 1836
Australia	v Pakistan	16*	Oct 1, 1998		Test 1424		Jul 13, 2010		Test 1963
Sri Lanka	v Zimbabwe	15*	Oct 11, 1994		Test 1270		May 14, 2004		Test 1699
Australia	v England	14	Nov 29, 1946		Test 279		Feb 2, 1951		Test 330
England	v India	14	Jun 25, 1932		Test 219		Jan 12, 1952		Test 346
India	v Pakistan	14	Nov 13, 1952		Test 357		Oct 16, 1978		Test 831
Pakistan	v New Zealand	14	Nov 8, 1969		Test 665		Jan 18, 1985		Test 1009
Pakistan	v England	14	Mar 2, 1984		Test 978		Jul 2, 1992		Test 1191

The longest ongoing unbeaten run is also against New Zealand. Australia haven't lost to them in 21 Tests, the first of which was in November 1993, before Daniel Vettori had begun his career. Australia's streak against New Zealand could climb up the table below but England's record is still a decade or more away - provided New Zealand don't win one, of course.

Australia hold the longest winning streak in ODIs - 22 against Zimbabwe. However, that run was cut short by a washout at the MCG in 2004, after which Australia won three more matches, taking their unbeaten run against Zimbabwe to 26, which is also the longest. This run of Australia's against Zimbabwe began after a shock upset in the first-ever game between the countries, in the 1983 World Cup, when Duncan Fletcher scored a half-century and took four wickets in Nottingham to give Zimbabwe their first win in their first ODI.

Most consecutive ODIs without a loss against a team

Team	Opposition	Mat	Start Match		Scorecard		End Match		Scorecard
Australia	v Zimbabwe	26*	Jun 16, 1983		ODI 212		May 29, 2004		ODI 2133
Pakistan	v Zimbabwe	22*	Nov 24, 1998		ODI 1377		Feb 2, 2008		ODI 2669
Pakistan	v Bangladesh	19*	Jun 2, 2000		ODI 1599		Jun 21, 2010		ODI 2998
South Africa	v Zimbabwe	18*	Feb 6, 2000		ODI 1558		Nov 10, 2009		ODI 2928
Sri Lanka	v Bangladesh	15	Apr 2, 1986		ODI 377		Feb 20, 2006		ODI 2334
Sri Lanka	v Zimbabwe	15	Apr 20, 2004		ODI 2119		Jun 1, 2010		ODI 2985
Australia	v Sri Lanka	14	Jan 23, 1985		ODI 294		Mar 7, 1992		ODI 733
South Africa	v Pakistan	14	Jan 10, 1995		ODI 970		Mar 24, 2000		ODI 1579
Zimbabwe	v Kenya	14	Feb 26, 1996		ODI 1061		Dec 15, 2002		ODI 1920
Australia	v England	14	Jan 26, 1999		ODI 1394		Mar 2, 2003		ODI 1976
India	v Zimbabwe	13	Jun 11, 1983		ODI 204		Jan 27, 1997		ODI 1169
South Africa	v New Zealand	13	Mar 25, 1999		ODI 1419		Jan 15, 2002		ODI 1785
West Indies	v Bangladesh	13	May 21, 1999		ODI 1454		Apr 19, 2007		ODI 2576
Australia	v West Indies	13*	Nov 5, 2006		ODI 2443		Feb 19, 2010		ODI 2960
Australia	v New Zealand	12	Jan 7, 1988		ODI 488		Dec 11, 1990		ODI 650
India	v Bangladesh	12	Oct 27, 1988		ODI 529		Dec 23, 2004		ODI 2199
England	v Bangladesh	12	Oct 5, 2000		ODI 1632		Jul 8, 2010		ODI 3018
India	v New Zealand	11	Jan 25, 1986		ODI 356		Dec 17, 1988		ODI 543
Australia	v West Indies	11	May 30, 1999		ODI 1470		May 24, 2003		ODI 2018
Australia	v India	11	Jan 22, 2004		ODI 2086		Oct 5, 2007		ODI 2625
New Zealand	v Bangladesh	11	Apr 28, 1990		ODI 626		Dec 31, 2007		ODI 2660
South Africa	v West Indies	11*	Apr 10, 2007		ODI 2567		Jun 3, 2010		ODI 2987

The longest Twenty20 streak is also Australia's current five-match unbeaten run against New Zealand. Australia won the first four internationals between the teams and tied the fifth, in Christchurch. New Zealand eventually won the one-over eliminator, but they are yet to beat Australia in a contest over 20 overs.

Most consecutive Twenty20 matches without a loss against a team

Team	Opposition	Mat	Start Match		Scorecard		End Match		Scorecard
Australia	v New Zealand	5*	Feb 17, 2005		T20I 1		Feb 28, 2010		T20I 149
Pakistan	v New Zealand	4	Sep 22, 2007		T20I 44		Nov 13, 2009		T20I 123
Pakistan	v Bangladesh	4*	Sep 2, 2007		T20I 18		May 1, 2010		T20I 154
South Africa	v New Zealand	4*	Sep 19, 2007		T20I 39		May 6, 2010		T20I 164
England	v New Zealand	4*	Feb 5, 2008		T20I 53		May 10, 2010		T20I 172
South Africa	v West Indies	4*	Jan 18, 2008		T20I 51		May 20, 2010		T20I 179
New Zealand	v Sri Lanka	4	Sep 2, 2009		T20I 120		May 22, 2010		T20I 180
New Zealand	v West Indies	3*	Feb 16, 2006		T20I 5		Dec 28, 2008		T20I 79
New Zealand	v India	3*	Sep 16, 2007		T20I 32		Feb 27, 2009		T20I 85
Australia	v England	3	Jan 9, 2007		T20I 13		Aug 30, 2009		T20I 119
West Indies	v England	3*	Mar 15, 2009		T20I 86		May 3, 2010		T20I 158
Sri Lanka	v West Indies	3*	Jun 10, 2009		T20I 100		May 7, 2010		T20I 166
Australia	v West Indies	3*	Feb 21, 2010		T20I 146		May 11, 2010		T20I 174
Australia	v Pakistan	3	Feb 5, 2010		T20I 134		May 14, 2010		T20I 176