Harry does it in ones and news from the Shell Trophy
Barring something quite extraordinary, Chris Harris will become the outright holder of the most wickets for New Zealand in One-Day Internationals
Francis Payne
19-Feb-2001
Barring something quite extraordinary, Chris Harris will become the outright holder of the most wickets for New Zealand in One-Day Internationals. When he bowled Inzamam-ul-Haq in the first one-dayer at Auckland, Harris drew level with Richard Hadlee with 158 victims.
However, since taking 2-45 in the final match in South Africa, Harris has been attacking the record in ones (and nones). In the nine home ODIs this season his figures have been 0-41, 1-45, 1-36 (Zimbabwe), 0-33, 0-38, 1-33, 0-2, 1-42 (Sri Lanka) and 1-21 v Pakistan.
The table now reads:
Wickets Matches Ave Richard Hadlee 158 115 21.56 Chris Harris 158 174 35.91 Ewen Chatfield 140 114 25.84 Chris Cairns 131 137 33.73 Danny Morrison 126 96 27.53 Martin Snedden 114 93 28.39 Gavin Larsen 113 121 35.39 Chris Pringle 103 64 23.87 Lance Cairns 89 78 30.52 Nathan Astle 83 128 36.67
Auckland wicketkeeper Reece Young provided one of first-class cricket's big batting turnarounds when he scored an unbeaten 101 for Auckland against Central Districts.
Although he had several centuries to his name in Auckland club cricket, Young's record for Auckland could only be described as something approaching abysmal. He scored 29 against West Indies last season but in Shell Trophy matches had amassed just 33 runs at an average of 3.66. In 1999/00 Young reeled off four ducks (two pairs) in succession and had added another nought in the match before he hit his maiden century.
Auckland scored 368-6 to win in the match against Central, its highest ever winning fourth innings total and its first fourth innings of 300 against any team other than Wellington! Auckland's highest fourth innings are:
458 (lost 276 runs) v Wellington Wellington 1927/28 368-6 (won) v Central Districts Auckland 2000/01 347-7 (won) v Wellington Auckland 1936/37 337 (lost 108) v Wellington Wellington 1922/23 336 (lost 105) v Wellington Wellington 1920/21 303 (lost 365) v Wellington Wellington 1923/24 300 (lost 40) v Wellington Auckland 1997/98
Canterbury ran up 372 against Wellington at Christchurch when set 411 for victory. Their best efforts in the fourth innings of a match are:
473-6 (won) v Auckland Christchurch 1930/31 388 (lost 19) v Wellington Wellington 1929/30 372 (lost 38) v Wellington Christchurch 2000/01 357-6 (won) v Otago Christchurch 1927/28 339 (lost 96) v Otago Christchurch 1933/34 339 (lost 12) v Otago Dunedin 1947/48 335-5 (won) v Otago Christchurch 1995/96 334 (lost 355) v Wellington Christchurch 1926/27
Richard Jones had an unusual sequence of scores in the Shell Trophy. With a previous highest score of 99 (run out) for Auckland against Otago in 1996/97, he hit centuries in successive games for Wellington, running up scores of 145 and 53 against Canterbury at Christchurch and 0 (out first ball) and 188 v Otago.
Jones was not the only player to suffer a first-ball duck. Auckland opener John Aiken had three in succession against Central Districts and two pairs in all.
At Palmerston North he was the victim of a most bizarre set of circumstances. In both innings Aiken faced the first ball - a wide from Brent Hefford. In both innings he was then out next ball - the first legitimate ball in both innings. The two teams met again at Auckland a week later with Tim McIntosh taking first ball this time. It did not help Aiken, however. McIntosh played out a maiden from Hefford before Aiken was trapped lbw by the first ball of the second over bowled by Andrew Schwass.
Auckland kept the same combination in the second innings but after a single from the third ball, Aiken came down to face Hefford and was caught behind off the last ball off the opening over.
(Aiken scored 7 and 46 against Otago in between the games against Central).
Aiken was not the only opener to suffer the dreaded first-ball nought. Adam Parore was bowled by Wasim Akram with the first ball of the first one-dayer at Auckland. He was not, however, the first New Zealand batsman to suffer this ignominy. The following have been dismissed with the first ball of an ODI:
Bowler John Wright v Australia Wellington 1981/82 (Jeff Thomson) John Bracewell v Australia Adelaide 1985/86 (Craig McDermott) Adam Parore v Pakistan Auckland 2000/01 (Wasim Akram)
(Wright was dismissed with the first legitimate ball of the match in the World Cup match against Australia at Auckland in 1991/92 but only after McDermott had begun the game with two wides).
The only New Zealand batsman dismissed first ball of an ODI innings when batting second is Mathew Sinclair (on debut) against Australia at Christchurch last season.
Matthew Bell and Richard Jones shared an opening partnership of 220 against Canterbury at Christchurch. This was just the seventh double century first wicket stand in Wellington history, although well short of the province's best. The highest first wicket stands for Wellington are now:
333 Bruce Edgar & Andrew Jones v Auckland Wellington 1988/89 316 Michael Austen & Ronnie Hart v Central Districts Wanganui 1993/94 310 Bruce Edgar & Robert Vance v Northern Districts Wellington 1988/89 259 Michael Austen & John Aiken v Otago Wellington 1994/95 239 Stewie Dempster & Bill Dustin v Canterbury Wellington 1931/32 220 Matthew Bell & Richard Jones v Canterbury Christchurch 2000/01 219* Bruce Edgar & Robert Vance v Central Districts Wellington 1987/88
Mark Richardson and Matt Horne put on 193 for Otago's first wicket against Wellington but they too fell well short of the best for Otago.
There are just three double century opening stands for Otago in first-class cricket and one pair features twice:
373 Bert Sutcliffe & Les Watt v Auckland Auckland 1950/51 305 Robbie Lawson & Martyn Croy v Central Districts Napier 1995/96 209 Bert Sutcliffe & Les Watt v Canterbury Dunedin 1947/48
Finally, this column would hardly be complete without reference to Chris Harris and his not out record in One-Day Internationals. The New Zealand all-rounder added another to his name as he watched Shoaib Akhtar wreak havoc at the other end in the first one-dayer at Auckland. Harris is now in outright third place and the table reads:
Not Outs Matches Steve Waugh 55 306 Mohammad Azharuddin 54 334 Chris Harris 48 174 Arjuna Ranatunga 47 269 Michael Bevan 46 154 Wasim Akram 43 311 Javed Miandad 41 233 Imran Khan 40 175 Kapil Dev 39 225 Allan Border 39 273 Heath Streak 38 122 Hashan Tillekeratne 38 181 Saleem Malik 38 283
Harris made 5 not out at Auckland. His lowest not out score is an unbeaten 3 against Pakistan at Napier in 1992/93.