Fifties and five-fors for fun

In the last two Test series of 2010, the prolific runs of two batsmen against a particular opponent came to an end. Michael Hussey was finally dismissed for cheap during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, and failed to score his seventh consecutive 50-plus score against England. In his previous six innings against them, stretching back to the Oval Test in 2009, Hussey had made 121, 195, 93, 52, 61, and 116. During the same week in Durban, India, much to their relief, dismissed Hashim Amla for less than a hundred, after he had made scores of 253*, 114, 123*, and 140 in consecutive innings against them.

A hundred for Amla in the first innings at Kingsmead would have set him apart, for no batsman has made five centuries in a row against a particular team. Three others have scored four: Alan Melville, for South Africa, against England between 1939 and 1947; Everton Weekes against India in 1948; and Shoaib Mohammad against New Zealand between 1989 and 1990. A hat trick of centuries against a team is a relatively common feat - it's been done 29 times.

Melville preceded his run of four consecutive centuries with two half-centuries, while Weekes followed his patch of hundreds with two fifties. Both batsmen appear in our table below, which contains players with the most consecutive 50-plus scores against a particular team. The leader is Inzamam-ul-Haq, who scored more than 50 in nine consecutive innings against England between 2001 and 2006. Jacques Kallis could soon join him, though. He presently has scores of 51, 155, 100*, 59, 107*, 73, 135*, and 105 in his previous eight innings against Pakistan.

Scoring consecutive hundreds is relatively easy compared to taking consecutive five-wicket hauls. You only have to depend on yourself for one, and not have to compete with rampant team-mates for scalps. Only four bowlers have managed four consecutive five-fors against an opponent in the 21st century and all of them are spinners - Harbhajan Singh, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill.

The longest streak of five-wicket hauls against a particular team is also the earliest in the table below. Charlie Turner took six in a row against England between February and August 1888. He could have had eight but he managed only 4 for 52 in the second innings at the SCG in 1887 during a period in which he took 5 for 41, 4 for 52, 5 for 44, 7 for 43, 5 for 27, 5 for 36, 6 for 112, and 5 for 86.

Sydney Barnes also tormented South Africa in 1912 and 1913 by grabbing five or more in an innings six times in a row. His streak could have been ten but for the four-wicket haul interrupting this succession of figures - 5 for 25, 6 for 85, 6 for 52, 4 for 63, 5 for 28, 8 for 29, 5 for 57, 5 for 48, 8 for 56 and 9 for 103.

In one-day internationals, the most hundreds anyone has scored consecutively against a particular opponent is three. Five people have done it - the two most recent being Sachin Tendulkar, during his battering of Australia in 1998, and Sourav Ganguly, who scored three against Kenya between 2001 and 2003.

Javed Miandad's seven consecutive half-centuries against England between 1985 and 1987 are the most for a batsmen in ODIs. Dean Jones is the only one with two entries in the table below, though. He had 50-plus scores in five consecutive innings against both New Zealand and Sri Lanka between 1988 and 1990.

Only two bowlers have taken consecutive five-fors in ODIs against a particular team and their feats came about 20 years apart. Waqar Younis took 5 for 11 and 5 for 16 against New Zealand in 1990 while Ryan Harris claimed 5 for 43 and 5 for 19 against Pakistan in 2010. And while a host of bowlers have taken four-fors in two consecutive games, only Ian Bishop - against Pakistan in 1993 - and Vasbert Drakes - against Bangladesh in 2002 - have done it in three.

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