Misers and spendthrifts in the same team

Two Bangladesh bowlers had a remarkable difference in their economy rates during the third ODI against England at Edgbaston, where the visitors suffered a 144-run defeat to lose the series 2-1. While Mashrafe Mortaza struck in the first over and eventually finished with 3 for 31 off 10, his new-ball partner Shafiul Islam conceded 11 in his first over, and 97 in nine, as England amassed 347. The difference of 7.67 in their economy rates is the fourth-highest between those of two bowlers in a one-dayer.

The largest difference between the economy rates of two team-mates in an ODI is nearly nine runs - Nathan Bracken went for 3.44 an over and Stuart Clark bled 12.42 against West Indies in Kuala Lumpur in 2006. The West Indians - Chris Gayle and Brian Lara in particular - targeted Clark, taking him for 87 in seven overs, while allowing the others reasonable economies. Offspinner Dan Cullen's 5.66 was the second worst. That match was Michael Hussey's first as captain and West Indies won by three wickets. Since then Hussey's led in three more ODIs and Australia have lost all of them, making him Australia's only winless ODI captain (not including David Hookes and Ray Bright, both of whom led in only one match).

How many times do you think Glenn McGrath was the most expensive bowler for Australia in an ODI, considering he had a career economy rate of 3.88 in 250 matches? There's no easy way to tell, but the Sydney ODI against Pakistan in 2000, when McGrath was outbowled by a debutant, was possibly his worst performance. Australia were defending 286 and McGrath had conceded 29 in his first two overs, before getting hit for five consecutive boundaries by Abdul Razzaq in his fifth. Pakistan reached 100 in the 13th over before the debutant Stuart MacGill struck with his sixth delivery. The legspinner finished with 4 for 19, the second-best figures on debut for Australia, and was Man of the Match as well, while McGrath ended with 1 for 67 in eight overs. There was a difference of 6.47 between their economy rates.

There are a couple of entries in the table above that are unusual. The first is that of Kenya's Aasif Karim taking 3 for 7 in 8.2 overs, with an economy rate of 0.84, against Australia in the 2003 World Cup. The Australians compensated for their inability to score against Karim by taking the Suji brothers, Martin and Tony, for 12 an over and Collins Obuya for 7.75.

The second unusual one is the West Indies-England ODI in the 2007 World Cup - Brian Lara's last international and Michael Vaughan's last ODI. It was only the third time Vaughan bowled a full spell in an ODI and he took 3 for 39. Vaughan was needed largely because Liam Plunkett went for 71 in seven overs. The difference between the economy rates of Vaughan and Plunkett was 6.24.

The largest difference between economy rates in a Twenty20 international - 11.83 - was in the 2010 World Twenty20 match between West Indies and England in Guyana. Ravi Rampaul came under attack from Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright and went for 52 in three overs. Darren Sammy, on the other hand, proved harder to hit and England scored at only 5.50 per over off him.

The Test innings with the largest difference in economy rate between two bowlers is a recent one. Peter Siddle took 1 for 67 in 35 overs at an economy rate of 1.91 against South Africa at Newlands in 2009. Australian legspinner Bryce McGain was making his debut in that match and the South African batsmen clobbered 149 runs in his 18 overs at an economy rate of 8.27, 6.36 more than that of Siddle.

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