Flourishing under floodlights

All the matches of the ongoing Champions Trophy are day-night affairs. Until recently, win-toss-and-bat used to be the mantra on Indian pitches but now teams have to factor in the dew that hampers bowling under lights. To complicate matters further, the pitches used in the tournament have been a far cry from traditional subcontinent tarmacs. Big totals have been sparse, the bounce variable and the turn sizeable. The challenge of batting on a wearing pitch under lights could be as difficult as bowling with a soggy ball. This week we feature players who've excelled and failed in artificial light.

Among the top one-day batsmen, Sanath Jayasuriya has one of the biggest differences in batting average when he chases under lights and during the day. His overall average while batting second is 30.09, but under lights it rises to 37.80. Six of his nine centuries - he has 22 in all - while batting second have been in day-night matches. In fact, on 14 of the 17 times that Jayasuriya's passed fifty at night, Sri Lanka have won. Perhaps he's unaware of these stats for Jayasuriya's won the toss in 37 day-night matches but decided to field just thrice.

Batting average under lights greater than chasing not under lights (qualification: 15 innings under lights, 15 not)

Player	Span		Night i	Runs	Ave	100		Day i	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
A Flintoff (Eng/ICC)	1999-2006		19	748	46.75	0		25	471	26.16	0		20.583
WJ Cronje (SAf)	1992-2000		38	1405	58.54	0		39	1253	39.15	0		19.385
GP Thorpe (Eng)	1993-2002		15	618	51.50	0		26	754	37.70	0		13.800
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL)	1989-2006		77	2571	37.80	6		108	2576	25.00	3		12.799
DS Lehmann (Aust)	1996-2005		16	394	43.77	0		22	516	32.25	0		11.527
Moin Khan (Pak)	1991-2004		23	646	34.00	0		51	887	23.97	0		10.027
Younis Khan (Pak)	2000-2006		29	798	38.00	1		29	773	29.73	0		8.269
DM Jones (Aust)	1984-1994		24	849	42.45	1		41	1111	34.71	1		7.731
CD McMillan (NZ)	1997-2005		46	1115	27.19	0		38	663	20.09	0		7.104
Ijaz Ahmed (Pak)	1986-2000		30	945	37.79	1		74	1953	31.00	2		6.799

India are widely tipped to qualify from their group, along with Australia, to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. Their batsmen, however, are failing them at the moment. How has their top order fared chasing under lights at home? Sachin Tendulkar has a magnificent record; he averages nearly 60 and has passed fifty in ten out of 19 innings. Rahul Dravid has a relatively poor average - 31.36 in 21 innings - while chasing in day games but under lights he averages 49 at home.

However, Virender Sehwag averages 37.84 while chasing during the afternoon and a mere 31.22 at night . Yuvraj Singh also fares better while chasing in day games. He averages 49.62 in them while under lights that figure drops to 26.60 with just four half-centuries in 33 innings.

Batting average under lights less than chasing not under lights (qualification: 15 innings under lights, 15 not)

Player	Span		Night i	Runs	Ave	100		Day i	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
L Klusener (SAf)	1996-2004		32	677	28.20	0		28	993	66.20	1		-37.991
ME Trescothick (Eng)	2000-2006		21	460	23.00	1		35	1594	53.13	5		-30.133
NV Knight (Eng)	1996-2003		25	640	27.82	0		24	936	52.00	0		-24.173
Yuvraj Singh (India)	2000-2006		33	745	26.60	0		31	1191	49.62	2		-23.017
WW Hinds (WI)	1999-2006		19	220	12.22	0		35	1038	34.60	2		-22.377
A Symonds (Aust)	1999-2006		21	432	27.00	0		20	639	49.15	0		-22.153
DL Haynes (WI)	1979-1994		28	556	21.38	0		109	3821	41.98	4		-20.604
SR Waugh (Aust)	1986-2002		47	943	24.17	0		70	2228	44.56	1		-20.380
Saeed Anwar (Pak)	1989-2003		32	890	29.66	2		73	2958	49.29	8		-19.633
GC Smith (SAf)	2002-2006		24	747	32.47	2		23	1007	50.35	2		-17.871

Andrew Symonds is another who struggles while batting under lights; only one fifty in 21 innings at 27 per match. However, he has a formidable record while chasing in day games where he averages 49 with five half-centuries in 20 innings.

You would expect fast bowlers to perform significantly better under lights because the ball does a little bit more for them than the spinners. However it's Nicky Boje, South Africa's left-arm spinner, and Paul Strang, the former Zimbabwe legspinner, that head the list. Boje has taken all three of his four-wicket hauls under lights and averages 20.50 while conceding 37.36 per wicket while defending a total in day games. Strang also averages an expensive 40.16 per wicket in day games while under lights his average is 23.44.

Bowling average under lights less than defending not under lights (qualification: 750 balls under lights, 750 not)

Player	Span		Night i	Wkts	Ave	4		Day i	Wkts	Ave	4		Diff
N Boje (Afr/SAf)	1995-2005		23	30	20.50	3		28	25	37.35	0		-16.859
PA Strang (Zimb)	1994-2001		20	29	23.44	3		38	31	40.16	0		-16.713
L Klusener (SAf)	1996-2004		32	52	19.75	3		47	44	35.77	0		-16.022
PS de Villiers (SAf)	1992-1997		15	20	21.14	0		28	27	35.07	1		-13.924
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	2001-2006		20	42	17.69	3		19	22	29.50	0		-11.809
ME Waugh (Aust)	1989-2002		67	26	27.84	2		63	20	39.50	0		-11.653
Azhar Mahmood (Pak)	1996-2005		30	31	31.12	3		47	36	42.63	1		-11.509
PL Taylor (Aust)	1987-1992		24	35	21.60	1		24	21	32.85	0		-11.257
PA de Silva (SL)	1984-2003		42	21	32.19	1		91	26	43.07	0		-10.886
M Ntini (SAf)	1998-2006		30	52	19.50	2		28	36	29.97	1		-10.472

Jayasuriya, however, hasn't carried his batting form under lights into the field. His bowling stats are poor; 46 wickets in 77 games at an average of 43.15.

Courtney Walsh's mediocre performances under lights are a surprise. He has an impressive economy of 3.82 but has a strike rate of 77.9 and has gone wicketless in nine out of 19 matches.

Bowling average under lights greater than defending not under lights (qualification: 750 balls under lights, 750 not)

Player	Span		Night i	Wkts	Ave	4		Day i	Wkts	Ave	4		Diff
AF Giles (Eng)	1998-2005		19	11	54.81	0		16	25	22.03	1		32.778
CA Walsh (WI)	1985-2000		19	13	49.69	0		72	80	28.83	3		20.854
BA Reid (Aust)	1986-1992		14	11	45.27	0		23	27	29.03	1		16.235
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1989-2006		77	46	43.15	2		96	83	29.79	4		13.356
Shoaib Malik (Pak)	1999-2006		36	30	35.50	0		31	29	25.72	1		9.775
SP O'Donnell (Aust)	1985-1991		18	16	34.93	1		34	45	26.35	3		8.581
CRD Fernando (SL)	2001-2006		27	23	37.73	0		29	35	29.94	0		7.796
HDPK Dharmasena (SL)	1994-2004		32	30	35.10	0		30	33	29.03	0		6.069
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak)	1995-2003		26	31	27.25	0		60	99	21.95	6		5.298
M Dillon (WI)	1997-2005		21	20	39.45	0		36	40	34.22	2		5.225