History made while more still to be fulfilled in Africa
History is made at Benoni
Francis Payne
23-Oct-2000
History is made at Benoni!
It took 358 games and 117 players - a leg-spinner in the New Zealand one-day team.
Auckland's Brooke Walker became the first leg-spinner to play a One-Day International for New Zealand when he played in the second match of the series against South Africa at Willowmoore Park. The seventh bowler used by Stephen Fleming, he bowled eight overs, taking 0-30 in the home team's total of 197/4. Walker toured England with New Zealand in 1999 and again with New Zealand 'A' in 2000.
Some one-day figures for Walker:
M Wkts Ave RPO Shell Cup 1999/00 13 13 31.23 3.73 Shell Cup Career 24 25 29.44 3.51 New Zealand 'A' in England 5 7 17.00 3.30
While the New Zealand team was making history in the ICC KnockOut final, Geoff Allott was creating a record of his own.
His one wicket in the match (Robin Singh) was his 50th in One-Day Internationals. Allott reached the mark in just his 28th game, quite easily the quickest by a New Zealand bowler. Chris Pringle held the previous record having taken 33 games to capture 50 wickets. The New Zealand bowlers to reach this target in least number of games are:
Matches GI Allott 28 C Pringle 33 EJ Chatfield 36 DK Morrison 36 MC Snedden 41 BL Cairns 43
(India's Ajit Agarkar took only 23 matches to reach the 50 wicket mark)
Last week we examined the one-day international batting exploits of Roger Twose. In the table of the 16 players who had averaged over 40 in one-dayers (minimum 1000 runs) eagle-eyed readers would have spotted something unique about Twose's record - he was the only player without a hundred. Indeed, all the others on the list had at least two to their credit.
Here is the list of players who have scored most runs in One-Day Internationals without the aid of a century.
Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Wasim Akram 308 243 43 3256 86 16.28 - 6 AH Jones 87 87 9 2784 93 35.69 - 25 Moin Khan 182 154 35 2733 69* 22.96 - 8 Mudassar Nazar 122 115 10 2653 95 25.26 - 16 RG Twose 71 66 10 2270 97 40.53 - 19 GJ Whittall 110 107 18 2128 83 23.91 - 10 IT Botham 116 106 15 2113 79 23.21 - 9 JC Adams 117 95 26 2028 82 29.39 - 14 KJ Hughes 97 88 6 1968 98 24.00 - 17 PJL Dujon 169 120 36 1945 82* 23.15 - 6 KLT Arthurton 105 93 20 1904 84 26.08 - 9 GP Thorpe 62 58 9 1902 89 38.81 - 17 JV Coney 88 80 19 1874 66* 30.72 - 8 IA Healy 168 120 36 1764 56 21.00 - 4 RJ Hadlee 115 98 17 1751 79 21.61 - 4 BA Young 74 73 5 1668 74 24.52 - 9 LRD Mendis 79 74 9 1527 80 23.49 - 7 JJ Crowe 75 71 12 1518 88* 25.72 - 7
Not surprisingly, the list is headed by a bowling all-rounder with a lot of matches to his name and contains several wicket-keepers. What is interesting is that the highest placed specialist batsman on the list is another New Zealander. Andrew Jones, who had a fine record in both One-Day Internationals and Shell Cup domestic one-day games, failed to reach three-figures in either - a total of 151 matches.
One piece of history still waiting to be achieved is New Zealand's first ever win in a One-Day International in South Africa. In eight games so far New Zealand has lost to South Africa (three times), Pakistan (twice) and Sri Lanka. Two matches (against Sri Lanka and South Africa) have ended in no results.
New Zealand and South Africa have now met in 23 one-dayers, although the current series is just the second time they have met head-to-head. South Africa leads 13-7 with three no results. The full breakdown is:
1991/92 World Cup New Zealand won only game 1993/94 World Series New Zealand won 2, South Africa 1 (one game abandoned without any play) 1994/95 Mandela Trophy South Africa won both games 1994/95 Centenary Series New Zealand won only game 1995/96 World Cup South Africa won only game 1997/98 Carlton & United Series South Africa won 3, New Zealand 1 1998/99 In New Zealand South Africa won series 3-2 (two games ended in no results) 1999 World Cup South Africa won only game 2000/01 Singapore Challenge South Africa won only game 2000/01 In South Africa South Africa leads series 1-0 (one no result)