Sajid Mahmood's near escape

Mick Lewis nearly lost a world record to Sajid Mahmood when England played Sri Lanka in the second ODI at the Kennington Oval in London. It was one he'd have been happy to lose. Having conceded 80 runs at 11.42 an over, Mahmood was well on course to break Lewis' embarrassing 113 runs in ten overs. Fortunately for Mahmood, Andrew Strauss decided to end the punishment after seven overs and Lewis' record for most runs in a ten-over spell stood intact. This week, we look at bowlers with the most expensive figures in ODIs and Tests.

Before Brett Lee's coming of age in Glenn McGrath's absence over the past year, he copped a hammering more times than he would have liked. In fact, Lee is the only bowler to appear in the Test, ODI and Twenty20 table of worst economy rates. He conceded 31 in three overs in the Twenty20 at the Rose Bowl in July 2005 and, a couple of months later, got creamed for 111 in 17 overs in the second Test against England at Edgbaston. In December 2005, Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum hammered him for 85 in ten overs in the second of the Chappell-Hadlee trophy matches. A couple of other matches, when Lee conceded 85 in ten overs against Pakistan in 2001 and 83 in ten against India at the Gabba also make it to the top 20 most expensive figures in ODIs.

Most Expensive Economy Rates - ODIs (qualification: 60 balls)

Player	O	M	R	W	Econ		Opposition	Season	Scorecard
ML Lewis (Aust)	10.0	0	113	0	11.30		v South Africa	2005/06	ODI 2349
M Muralitharan (SL)	10.0	0	99	0	9.90		v Australia	2005/06	ODI 2328
ALF de Mel (SL)	10.0	0	97	1	9.70		v West Indies	1987/88	ODI 457
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	10.0	0	94	3	9.40		v Pakistan	1996/97	ODI 1125
RJ van Vuuren (Namib)	10.0	0	92	0	9.20		v Australia	2002/03	ODI 1970
MC Snedden (NZ)	12.0	1	105	2	8.75		v England	1983	ODI 197
J Srinath (India)	10.0	0	87	0	8.70		v Australia	2002/03	ODI 1993
R Telemachus (SAf)	10.0	1	87	2	8.70		v Australia	2005/06	ODI 2349
Waqar Younis (Pak)	10.0	0	86	2	8.60		v Sri Lanka	1997/98	ODI 1317
T Kumaran (India)	10.0	0	86	0	8.60		v Pakistan	2000	ODI 1600
T Panyangara (Zimb)	10.0	0	86	1	8.60		v England	2004	ODI 2168
Ata-ur-Rehman (Pak)	10.0	0	85	1	8.50		v India	1995/96	ODI 1098
B Lee (Aust)	10.0	1	85	1	8.50		v Pakistan	2001	ODI 1720
B Lee (Aust)	10.0	0	85	1	8.50		v New Zealand	2005/06	ODI 2302
WPUJC Vaas (SL)	10.0	0	84	1	8.40		v India	1999	ODI 1463
DR Pringle (Eng)	10.0	0	83	0	8.30		v West Indies	1987/88	ODI 452
B Lee (Aust)	10.0	0	83	1	8.30		v India	2003/04	ODI 2084
CD Collymore (WI)	10.0	0	83	2	8.30		v South Africa	2003/04	ODI 2096
Nazmul Hossain (Bang)	10.0	0	83	3	8.30		v England	2005	ODI 2252
UDU Chandana (SL)	10.0	0	83	0	8.30		v India	2005/06	ODI 2290

Javagal Srinath chose the most important match of his one-day career to collect his worst figures. Courtesy Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn, Srinath leaked 87 in ten overs as Australia piled up 359 for 2 in the 2003 World Cup final. Srinath did not play another match.

Muttiah Muralitharan's 0 for 99 - the second worst figures for a ten-over spell in ODIs - was only the sixth time he conceded more than six an over in a 275-match career.

The Johannesburg boundary-mela has three entries in the lists of most expensive economy-rates - Jacques Kallis' 70 in six overs, Roger Telemachus' 87 in ten, and Lewis' 113 in ten. But considering that 872 runs were scored in 99.5 overs, you might have expected more.

Most Expensive Economy Rates - ODIs (qualification: 30 balls)

Player	O	M	R	W	Econ		Opposition	Season	Scorecard
Tapash Baisya (Bang)	7.0	0	87	0	12.42		v England	2005	ODI 2252
SC Ganguly (India)	5.0	0	62	0	12.40		v Pakistan	1998	ODI 1352
JH Kallis (SAf)	6.0	0	70	0	11.66		v Australia	2005/06	ODI 2349
DW Steyn (SAf)	5.0	0	58	1	11.60		v Australia	2005/06	ODI 2316
MA Suji (Kenya)	7.0	0	81	0	11.57		v India	2001/02	ODI 1764
SI Mahmood (Eng)	7.0	0	80	2	11.42		v Sri Lanka	2006	ODI 2385
ML Lewis (Aust)	10.0	0	113	0	11.30		v South Africa	2005/06	ODI 2349
RW Ali (Kenya)	6.0	0	67	0	11.16		v Sri Lanka	1995/96	ODI 1074
NB Mahwire (Zimb)	7.0	0	78	1	11.14		v New Zealand	2005/06	ODI 2272
RJ Shastri (India)	7.0	0	77	1	11.00		v West Indies	1983/84	ODI 229

Bob Willis, whose 3.28 per over is the fourth lowest career economy-rate in ODIs, has the third most expensive figures in Tests for a minimum qualification of 90 balls in an innings. Willis, in his last Test, conceded 123 runs in 18 overs as Michael Holding got stuck into him during his innings of 59 that included five sixes. Willis' career as a bowler ended on a low note but two not-outs in the Test ensured that he finished with a world-record 55 not-out innings.

Most Expensive Economy Rates - Tests (qualification: 90 balls)

Player	O	M	R	W	Econ		Opposition	Season	Scorecard
Mohammad Sharif (Bang)	17.0	0	120	0	7.05		v Sri Lanka	2001/02	Test 1561
A Ward (Eng)	15.0	0	103	2	6.86		v West Indies	1976	Test 780
RGD Willis (Eng)	18.0	1	123	2	6.83		v West Indies	1984	Test 991
Anwar Hossain Monir (Bang)	15.0	1	102	0	6.80		v England	2005	Test 1753
JG Thomas (Eng)	15.0	0	101	0	6.73		v West Indies	1985/86	Test 1044
CRD Fernando (SL)	16.0	1	107	1	6.68		v South Africa	2000/01	Test 1529
B Lee (Aust)	17.0	1	111	1	6.52		v England	2005	Test 1758
AS Wassan (India)	16.4	1	108	4	6.48		v New Zealand	1989/90	Test 1139
JH Sinclair (SAf)	20.0	1	129	4	6.45		v Australia	1902/03	Test 75
M Kartik (India)	19.0	1	122	0	6.42		v Australia	2003/04	Test 1680