Highest run chases of all -time

UPDATE: 5th November 2009 - CLICK HERE to see the highest successful run chases in India.


UPDATE: 2 days after this post was posted NZ chased down 347 agaisnt Australia to add themselves to 2nd place again and bump their old high score down to third place. All the others also move down 1 place and the 7/316 Indis scored against Pakistan at Dhaka in 97/98( Scorecard) moves out of the top 10.

Having failed to defend 5/336, Australia now has the unwanted record of the top 3 highest scores unsuccessfully defended. The worrying thing is these have all come in the last 12 months.

Stand-in skipper Michael Hussey isn't worried about this fact or the team's form coming into the world cup which starts next month "We can't afford to panic, we can't afford to start making wholesales changes or anything like that," said Hussey "I know big totals being chased down is an area of concern and we're going to have to get better at it, but I still think we've got the right people in the team and in the squad."

The list of the top 10 totals batting second in ODI history.

1. 9/438 SA v AUS Johannesburg 05/06 Scorecard
2. 9/350 NZ v AUS Hamilton 06/07 Scorecard
3. 5/337 NZ v AUS Auckland 06/07 Scorecard
4. 8/332 NZ v AUS Chirstchurch 05/06 Scorecard
5. 7/330 AUS v SA Port Elizabeth 01/02 Scorecard
6. 8/326 IND v ENG Lord's 02 Scorecard
7. 5/325 IND v WI Ahmedabad 02/03 Scorecard
8. 2/324 SRL v ENG Leeds 06 Scorecard
9. 7/319 PAK v IND Ahmedabad 04/05 Scorecard
10. 4/316 AUS v PAK Lahore 98/99 Scorecard

South Africa smash Pakistan by 10 wickets.

South Africa 113-0 (Smith 56*, de Villiers 50*)Pollock 2-13, Kemp 2-9) beat Pakistan 107 all out (Inzamam 45*, Pollock 2-13) by 10 wickets
Shaun Pollock, supported by an assembly line of bristling seamers, set Pakistan up for the kill, before South Africa's openers finished it with a lack of mercy that Jack the Ripper would've shivered at. Pakistan were trounced, ultimately, by ten wickets with 36 overs to spare at Cape Town, South Africa taking a 2-1 series lead with one match left to play.

As with the series opening result at Centurion, numbers couldn't fully convey the carnage. In the end, as Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers rained down a glut of boundaries, it seemed as if the Twenty20 game that started this series with the same result and manner was being replayed.

Full Story

Sri Lanka edge home by 5 runs.

Sri Lanka 257 for 8 (Sangakkara 110, Dilshan 56) beat India 252 for 9 (Ganguly 62*, Tendulkar 54) by 5 runs

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CB Series Game 11: Australia Vs New Zealand

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat on a good MCG pitch. Australia is without Andrew Symonds who recieved surgery on his injured bicep this morning and is in doubt for the world cup. Hodges keeps his place in the team and Ponting returns.

New Zealnd batted well and scored 290 runs from their 50 overs. It will be a tough chase for Australia

Australia won by 5 wickets with 10 balls to spare thanks largely to the brilliant batting of Ponting 104 and Hodge 99* who looks as though he has booked his ticket to the world cup.

New Zealand innings			R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	L Vincent	b Tait	90	160	113	6	1	79.64
	SP Fleming	c Hussey b Lee	9	14	11	1	0	81.81
	PG Fulton	lbw b Clarke	60	134	81	4	0	74.07
	RL Taylor	b Clarke	21	47	31	1	0	67.74
	SB Styris	c Hussey b Clark	34	53	36	2	0	94.44
	JDP Oram	c Hodge b Lee	15	13	9	1	1	166.66
	BB McCullum	b Clark	19	27	14	1	0	135.71
	DL Vettori	not out	3	9	4	0	0	75.00
	JEC Franklin	not out	13	4	5	0	1	260.00
	Extras	(b 2, lb 11, w 9, nb 4)	26
	Total	(7 wickets; 50 overs; 230 mins)	290

Did not bat MR Gillespie, SE Bond

Fall of wickets1-12 (Fleming, 2.5 ov), 2-163 (Fulton, 31.3 ov), 3-188 (Vincent, 36.5 ov), 4-212 (Taylor, 41.3 ov), 5-233 (Oram, 44.3 ov), 6-269 (Styris, 47.6 ov), 7-275 (McCullum, 49.1 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	B Lee	10	0	71	2	7.10	(3nb, 3w)
	SW Tait	10	1	26	1	2.60
	SR Clark	10	1	61	2	6.10	(1nb, 1w)
	MG Johnson	7	0	48	0	6.85	(1w)
	MJ Clarke	9	0	45	2	5.00	(2w)
	CL White	4	0	26	0	6.50	(1w)

Australia innings (target: 291 runs from 50 overs)			R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	AC Gilchrist	b Franklin	29	46	28	4	0	103.57
	ML Hayden	c Taylor b Franklin	28	63	44	2	0	63.63
	RT Ponting	c Vincent b Gillespie	104	171	113	6	1	92.03
	MJ Clarke	c McCullum b Vettori	9	45	20	0	0	45.00
	BJ Hodge	not out	99	123	86	7	1	115.11
	MEK Hussey	run out (Vincent/Oram)	8	9	5	1	0	160.00
	CL White	not out	1	5	1	0	0	100.00
	Extras	(lb 1, w 3, nb 9)	13
	Total	(5 wickets; 48.2 overs; 219 mins)	291

Did not bat SW Tait, SR Clark, B Lee, MG Johnson

Fall of wickets1-56 (Gilchrist, 10.6 ov), 2-65 (Hayden, 12.6 ov), 3-112 (Clarke, 22.4 ov), 4-266 (Ponting, 46.1 ov), 5-279 (Hussey, 47.4 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JEC Franklin	10	0	56	2	5.60	(2nb)
	SE Bond	9	0	64	0	7.11	(2nb, 1w)
	MR Gillespie	8.2	0	45	1	5.40	(1nb)
	JDP Oram	5	0	44	0	8.80	(1nb)
	DL Vettori	10	0	55	1	5.50	(2nb, 2w)
	SB Styris	6	0	26	0	4.33

Scorecard thanks to Cricinfo

Australia: Too far ahead of the pack?

Recent results seem to suggest that nobody is anywhere close when compared to Australia. The recent Ashes series was 1 Vs 2 yet Australia won 5-0. The 2 games played so far in the Commonwealth Bank Series have been won easily by Australia. The first 1 Vs England by 8 wickets and the 2nd Vs NZ by 105 runs. Australia have been so good for so long, surely they have to start failing one day.
Australia didn't lose a test match in 2006 whereas the West Indies didn't win a match.

Tests
Team                Tests      Won     Lost    Drawn     Tied      Win %
Australia              10       10        0        0        0     100.00
Sri Lanka              11        6        3        2        0      66.66
Pakistan               12        4        3        5        0      57.14
New Zealand             8        3        3        2        0      50.00
India                  12        3        3        6        0      50.00
England                14        5        6        3        0      45.45
South Africa           11        3        7        1        0      30.00
Bangladesh              4        0        4        0        0       0.00
West Indies            10        0        5        5        0       0.00

5 of the top 10 best averages in 2006 were Australians. With 1 very very surprising name at 1. Jason Gillespie thanks to his 201* against Bangladesh has an average for 2006 of 231.

Highest Test Averages of 2006.

Name                Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100 50   Ct St TeJN Gillespie          2    3   2   231  201* 231.00  43.50   1  -    2  - AUS
Mohammad Yousuf      11   19   1  1788  202   99.33  62.64   9  3    3  - PAK
RT Ponting           10   18   3  1333  196   88.86  60.78   7  4    8  - AUS
MEK Hussey           10   15   3   965  182   80.41  53.34   2  7    5  - AUS
MJ Clarke             6    9   3   429  135*  71.50  61.11   2  1    2  - AUS
LPC Silva             2    4   1   213  152*  71.00  69.38   1  1    2  - SL
KC Sangakkara        11   20   2  1242  287   69.00  59.03   4  4   20  2 SL
PA Jaques             1    1   0    66   66   66.00  67.34   -  1    1  - AUS
Younis Khan          11   20   2  1179  199   65.50  58.74   3  6   12  - PAK
M Kaif                5    7   2   317  148*  63.40  47.17   1  1    2  - IND

Australia's one day record for 2006 was not bad either, winning 71.42% of matches. Only 1 series (including tournaments) was lost 2-3 to South Africa in January.
ODIs

Team                 ODIs      Won     Lost     Tied       NR      Win %
Australia              29       20        8        0        1      71.42
New Zealand            14        9        5        0        0      64.28
Bangladesh             28       18       10        0        0      64.28
South Africa           24       15        9        0        0      62.50
West Indies            33       18       14        0        1      56.25
Sri Lanka              36       19       15        0        2      55.88
Pakistan               23       11       10        0        2      52.38
Ireland                 3        1        1        0        1      50.00
India                  30       13       15        0        2      46.42
Kenya                  16        7        9        0        0      43.75
Netherlands             8        3        4        0        1      42.85
Bermuda                12        4        8        0        0      33.33
Zimbabwe               29        8       20        0        1      28.57
England                20        5       14        0        1      26.31
Canada                 10        2        8        0        0      20.00
Scotland                5        1        4        0        0      20.00

All lists used with thanks to Statsguru

The Ashes. What people are saying.

Cricinfo reports that Duncan Fletcher has said that the English players still respect him.

Also on Cricinfo - Ricky Ponting jumps to the defence of Flintoff and Fletcher saying the criticism of them is "harsh"

FoxSports reckons England should be embarassed with how they handled Monty Panesar

The BBC's "Robbo" takes a look at how England lost the "Thrashes"

The Sydney Morning Herald tells of Terry Jenner (Warne's Bowling Coach) predicting Ian Bell to be Warne's 700th wicket.

Matthew Sinclair Catch

Absolutely awesome catch in the outfield. From the 2004 Chappel-Hadlee series.

Some common and not so common statistics.

Our friends over at TheAshesBlog have done a great statistical analysis of the Aussie and English teams. I was going to do something similar but have no need to now. Here is an example -

Australia’s team batting average is far better than that of England. In the Aussie lineup there are 3 players who average over 50, whilst England has just the one in young Alastair Cook. Even in the tail the Australians look far stronger, with Brett Lee at number 9 averaging over 21. In the bowling lineup....

Click here to read the whole article.


Career and series averages and statistics.

Averages
When Michael Clarke reached 101 not out today his career Test Average rose to exactly 40. When he was finally dismissed for 139 it dropped back down to 39.48. He is averaging 90 for the series.

Ricky Ponting's career average has now risen to just over 60 and unlike most players whose average drops as they get older his is rising and rising. In fact Ponting is averaging around the 71 mark since 2002. His career average now stands at 60.06.

Amazingly, after 21 innings with only 4 not outs, Mike Hussey's average is still in the high 70s (77.41)

Glenn McGrath was the only Australian batsmen with an average in the single digits (7.52) In fact, Mcgrath has the lowest average out of any player in both teams, just behind Matthew Hoggard who averages 7.67

Series Averages
Ricky Ponting's average for the series is 199.
Langer - 93
Clarke - 90
Hussey - 88.50

Ducks
Michael Clarke & Mike Hussey are the only 2 players in the Australian team to have never been out for a duck in test cricket. Ricky Ponting only has 8 ducks in his 178 innings, Damien Martyn only has 7 in his 108 innings.

Fours & Sixes
Ponting has hit 1039 4s in his career off 15586 balls or 1 four every 15 balls.
Gilchrsit - 632 off 6362 (1 every 10.06 balls) 93 sixes ( 1 every 68.4 balls)
Clarke - 155 off 2378 (15.34)
Hayden - 905 off 12308 (13.6)

Great Commentary - ABC Grandstand

ABC's grandstand cricket commentary is leaps and bounds ahead of Channel Nine's and they don't flog merchandise and programs all day. Live streaming available here.

2nd Test - Day 4

Update
12:40pm: Australia 5/364 (113 overs)
Gilchrist 50* (70 balls 5x4 0x6)
Clarke 45* (84 balls 5x4 0x6)
Partnership: 79

Update
WICKET!
Gilchrist c Bell b Giles 64 (79 balls 8x4 0x6) - Mishit, would have been a huge hit had it hit the middle of the bat. A good innings by Gilchrist comes to a premature end.

Update
1:26pm: 6/415 (122.3 overs)
Clarke 67* (111 balls 6x4 0x6)
Warne 11* (24 balls 2x4 0x6)

Update
2:12pm: Just back from lunch. Score is unchanged

Update
2:20pm: 6/424 (126 overs)
Clarke 73* (116balls 7x4 0x6)
Warne 13* (30 balls 2x4 0x6)

Update
2:30pm: 50 partnership between Clarke and Warne

Update
2:52pm: Warne needs just 2 more runs to have 3000 test runs.

Update
3:17pm: 6/455 (141 overs)
Clarke 90* (170 balls 9x4 0x6)
Warne 27* (76 balls 3x4 0x6)

Update
3:20pm 6/462 (142 overs)
CLARKE 99 NOT OUT

Update
3:27pm
CLARKE CENTURY - (183 balls 9x4 0x6)

Update
3:42pm 6/476 (146 overs)
Clarke 102* (188 balls 9x4 0x6)
Warne 36* (88 balls 3x4 0x6)
Partnership: 93 runs off 32.4 overs, Warne 36, Clarke 53

Update
4:11pm WICKET
Warne: Out! lbw Hoggard 43 (108 balls 4x4 0x6)
F.O.W: 7/502
Partnership: 118
Clarke: 121*
And that will be Tea Australia are 7/502

Update
4:43pm WICKET!
Clarke Out! c Clarke b Hoggard 124 (224 balls 9x4 0x6)
F.O.W: 8/505
Partnership: 3
Hoggard: 6/107 38.1 overs

Update
4:53pm WICKET
Clark Out b Hoggard 0 (7 balls 0x4 0x6) QUACK QUACK
F.O.W: 9/507
Partnership: 2

Update
5:18pm Australia all out for 513

Update
Stumps England 1/59

2nd test - Day 3

Ricky Ponting has hit an Australian record 33rd test century on Day 3 of the 2nd Test. Ponting's hundred came off 183 balls and took him past Steve Waugh for the most test centuries by an Australian.

Ponting and Hussey led an Australian fightback after Hayden and Langer both fell victim to some good bowling by Hoggard. Ponting was dropped on 35 by Giles and has made England pay.

Ponting and Hussy's partnership is currently worth 148 off 49.3 overs.

Australia are 3/222 off 72 overs.

Update - Hussey almost run out! Throw was a bit too high but it's very, very close. Great decision by the third umpire there. You couldn't give that out. Silly Geraint and his white gloves, you couldn't see the bails.
Australia 3/228

Update
3/343 off 80 overs.
Ponting 134* (238 balls - 11 x4 0 x6)
Hussey 74* (178 balls - 6 x4 1 x6)

Update
Ponting out - c Jones b Hoggard 142 (245 balls 12x4 0x6)
4/257

Update
Hussey out - b Hoggard 91 (212 balls 7x4 1x6)
5/286

End of the Day
Australia 5/312
Clarke 30* (44 balls 4x4 0x6)
Gilchrist 13* (17 balls 1x4 0x6)

2nd Test - Adelaide Oval - Day 2

Paul Collingwood's 206 and Kevin Pietersen's 158 took England to 6/551 when captain Andrew Flintoff declared late on day two.

Pietersen and Collingwood batted together for almost six hours and their partnership was the second highest ever scored at Adelaide and the second highest posted by an English pair in Australia.

England's total was its biggest against Australia since 1986-87 when England led by Mike Gatting scored 8dec/592 in the second Test of the series when it successfully defended the Ashes.

England's innings was its biggest total against Australia since Mike Gatting's side amassed 8(dec)-592 in the second Test of the 1986-87 series when it successfully defended the Ashes.

Warne's 1/167 from 53 overs was his most expensive in 142 Tests.

McGrath returned figures of 0/107.

Stuart Clark, was the pick of the bowlers with 3/75

Matthew Hayden was unbeaten on 12 at stumps with Ponting on 11. Justin Langer was caught in the gully for 4.