Statistical highlights - Fourth ODI, at Vizag

Mohandas Menon

• Australian Matt Hayden (111) recorded his highest LOI score of his career in his 22nd match. His previous highest score was the 99 he made at Bangalore on March 25, 2001, in the first match of this series.

• *The respective knocks by Hayden and Ricky Ponting (101) provided the 35th instance in LOIs when two batsmen scored centuries in the same innings. This was the fourth time Australian batsmen have achieved this this feat. The first instance was also against India at Jaipur on September 7, 1986 when openers Geoff Marsh (104) and David Boon (111) had recorded hundreds. Surprisingly, Australia had lost the match by seven wickets.

• Incidentally India was conceding two hundreds in a match for the eighth time in LOIs. Only Sri Lanka has the dubious distinction of conceding two hundreds in a match on more occasions - ten!

•  The second wicket partnership of 219 runs between Hayden and Ponting was Australia's joint third highest for any wicket in LOIs. It also equals Australia's best for the second wicket, which was the 219 between Mark Waugh and Ponting against Zimbabwe at New Delhi on April 11, 1998. Australia best two partnerships still remains as the unbeaten 224 for the third wicket between Allan Border and Dean Jones against Sri Lanka at Adelaide on January 28, 1985 and the 222 runs for the fourth wicket between Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh against South Africa at the Melbourne's Colonial Stadium on August 16, 2000.

•  However, the Hayden-Ponting effort which was fifth highest for any wicket against India in LOIs, was now the best for Australia for any wicket against India obliterating the 212 runs put on between Geoff Marsh and David Boon for the first wicket at Jaipur on September 7, 1986. For the record, Australia's previous highest partnership against India for the second wicket was the unbeaten 167 runs between Boon and Tom Moody at Sydney on January 14, 1992.

•  The above partnership also fell short by just two runs the highest partnership for the second wicket against India which still remains as the 221 between West Indian Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards at Jamshedpur on December 7, 1983.

• This was the ninth 200-plus partnership to be recorded on Indian soil in LOIs. Visakhapatnam incidentally becomes the first Indian venue to do so on two separate occasions. The Australian twin siblings Mark and Steve Waugh had put on 207 for the third wicket against Kenya in the World Cup on February 23, 1996 at this very ground.

• Australia's total of 338-4 was its joint second highest in LOIs. Its highest still remains as the 349-6 against New Zealand at Christchurch on February 26, 2000. Earlier this year Australia has scored 338-6 against the West Indies at Melbourne on February 9, 2001. So the effort by Australia in this match was statistically the second highest total since it lost fewer wickets.

• Australia previous highest total against India was the 329-5 at Adelaide on January 26, 2000. Now only New Zealand (on two occasions) have exceeded Australia's score against India in LOIs - 349-9 at Rajkot on November 5, 1999 and 348-8 at Nagpur on November 26, 1995.

• Sachin Tendulkar's 62 in 38 balls at a strike-rate of 163.15 per 100 balls was the second fastest of his career spanning 267 matches in which he has scored at least a fifty. His fastest innings still remains as the 82 in 49 balls (S/r: 167.35) he made against New Zealand at Auckland on March 27, 1994 when he opened the Indian innings for the first time in his international career.

• Shane Warne claimed his 250th wicket of his LOI career when he had Laxman stumped of his bowling. Playing in his 161st match he now joins five other bowlers (two Pakistanis and three Indians) to the 250-bowler's club.

• The explosive innings of 46 runs by Harbhajan Singh equals the record for the highest individual score by a number ten batsman in LOIs. However Pakistani Abdur Razzaq's 'unbeaten' 46 against South Africa at Durban on April 3, 1998 remains statistically the best by a number ten batsman in LOIs. The previous highest score by an Indian at number ten was the 43 by Javagal Srinath against Pakistan at Toronto on September 16, 1998, while Englishman Angus Fraser's unbeaten 38 at Melbourne on January 10, 1991 was the previous highest by a number ten against Australia in LOIs.

• Meanwhile, the partnership of 59 runs between Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh was India best for the ninth wicket against Australia eclipsing the previous best of 52 (unbeaten) between Anil Kumble and Srinath during their match-winning stand in the Titan Cup encounter at Bangalore on October 21, 1996. The Zaheer-Harbhajan stand however just failed to better the best by any team for the ninth wicket against Australia which still remains as the 63 runs between West Indians - late Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner - at Sydney on February 6, 1985.

• The last occasion Steve Waugh attempted to bowl in a LOI match was at Nairobi on October 7, 2000 in the ICC Knock-out tournament also against India. He then had bowled four overs claiming one wicket for 28 runs. Since this match he has not bowled in the last ten matches for Australia. Interestingly, the last occasion he had claimed at least three wickets in a match was also against India at Sharjah on April 19, 1998 when he took four wickets for 40 runs in 9 overs.

• The win by 93 runs was Australia's largest in terms of runs in India against the home team in 24 matches. The previous largest was the 48 run win at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on September 28, 1994, when the two teams met each other for the first time on Indian soil.

• Matthew Hayden, playing in his 22nd match won his maiden man of the match award of his career.

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