NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Statistical highlights 3rd match: Australia v Pakistan at Perth, 26-28 November, 1999

Mohandas Menon

• This match was the 1472nd in Test history.

• This match was Australia's 600th and Pakistan's 261st in Tests. Only England has appeared in more matches (762) than Australia. Just for the record, England reached this landmark way back in March, 1984 against Pakistan at Lahore.

• This match was the 46th meeting between the two sides.

• This match was the 27th to be played at this venue. Pakistan was playing its 4th match at this venue.

• Wasim Akram was captaining in his 25th Test to become the only third Pakistani after Imran Khan (48) and Javed Miandad (34) to do so.

• Mohammad Akram was making a comeback to the Pakistan team after three years and after missing 25 Tests in between. He last appeared against New Zealand at Rawalpindi in November, 1996.

• Australian Michael Kasprowicz was also making a come-back to the Test side after missing 14 Tests. He last appeared in the Ashes Test at Brisbane in November last year.

• Moin Khan was appearing in his 50th Test match (and in his 47th as a keeper) for Pakistan. He becomes the 20th Pakistani and the 155th player to reach his milestone.

• Moin Khan during his innings of 28 in the first innings, when on 5, reached his 2000th run of his career in his 50th match and 76th innings. He now becomes the 22nd Pakistani and the 195th batsman in Test history to do so.

• The wicket of Slater was Wasim Akram's 50th against Australia in his 13th match. He now becomes the fourth Pakistani after Imran Khan (64 wickets), Iqbal Qasim (57) & Sarfraz Nawaz (52) and 41st Test bowler to do so against Australia.

• The catch of Greg Blewett was Inzamamul Haq's 50th of his career in 58 matches. He now becomes the fourth Pakistani after Javed Miandad (93 catches in 124 matches), Majid Khan (70 in 63) and Salim Malik (65 in 103). Inzamam now becomes the 64th fielder in Test history to reach this milestone.

• Ricky Ponting who in his previous three innings recorded 'ducks' including a pair in the last Test, recorded his highest Test score (197) of his career. His previous highest score was the 127 against England at Leeds in 1997.

• Ponting now becomes the only second Australian after Victor Trumper to score a hundred after bagging pair in the previous match. Trumper scored 10 & 166 against England at Sydney in 1907-08 after two ducks in the previous match at Melbourne.

• Ponting's 197 was also the second highest score by a batsman after bagging a pair. West Indian Clifford Roach had scored 209 against England at Georgetown in 1929-30 after a pair in the previous Test at Port of Spain. Another West Indian Everton Weekes had also scored 197 against Pakistan at Bridgetown in 1957-58 after a pair against England at The Oval in 1957.

• Ponting's 197 was also the highest score by an Australian at this venue against Pakistan bettering the previous best of 169 by Wayne Phillips in 1983-84.

• Incidentally, Ponting's score was also the sixth highest by a batsman batting at number six in Test history. However, it was the highest score by a number six batsman against Pakistan, bettering the previous highest of 178 (unbeaten) by West Indian Carl Hooper at Port Of Spain in 1992-93.

• The partnership of 327 runs between Justin Langer and Ponting was Australia's best for the fifth wicket against Pakistan. It betters the previous best of 171 runs achieved twice between - Greg Chappell and Gary Cosier at Melbourne in 1976-77 and Greg Chappell and Allan Border at Brisbane in 1983-84.

• The above partnership was incidentally the all time second highest partnership for any wicket against Pakistan after the 446 runs for the 2nd wicket put on by West Indians Conrad Hunte and Gary Sobers at Kingston in 1957-58. The previous highest for Australia against Pakistan for any wicket was the 279 for the 2nd wicket between Mark Taylor and Langer at Peshawar in October last year. And the previous highest against Pakistan for the fifth wicket by any team was the 277 (unbeaten) between Zimbabweans Murray Goodwin and Andy Flower at Bulawayo in 1997-98.

• Now just one partnership of 405 between Syd Barnes and Don Bradman against England at Sydney in 1946-47 exceeds the Langer-Ponting effort for the fifth wicket in any Tests played in Australia.

• Ijaz Ahmed (115) when on 30 reached his 1000th run against Australia in his 14th match. He becomes the fourth Pakistani after Miandad (1797 runs), Zaheer Abbas (1411) & Salim Malik (1106) and the 61st Test batsman to do so against Australia.

• Wasim Akram's 52 in the second innings was his only second fifty-plus score as captain after his unbeaten 257 against Zimbabwe at Sheikupura in 1996-97. Interestingly, the last occasion Wasim scored a Test fifty was during his double hundred.

• By reaching his 50 in just 35 balls, Wasim Akram scored the fastest fifty by a Pakistani in terms of balls. It was also the second quickest fifty by a batsman against Australia. The quickest still remains with West Indian Roy Fredricks who reached his fifty in just 33 balls during his innings of 169 at this same venue in 1975-76. Another West Indian Richie Richardson also scored his 50 in 35 balls during his innings of 106 at Adelaide in 1988-89.

• The fastest fifty in terms of minutes by a Pakistani is still held Intikhab Alam who reached his fifty in 43 minutes (the details of balls faced are not available) during his innings of 138 against Pakistan at Hyderabad in 1972-73. Just for the record, Wasim's fifty took him 61 minutes. Perhaps Intikhab may have faced fewer balls for his fifty at Hyderabad.

• This was Wasim Akram's eight defeat as captain in 25 matches. He now equals the record of Imran Khan for the maximum defeats by a Pakistani captain.

• This was the only second occasion Pakistan lost all its matches played in a series. The other occasion was also against Australia when it won the three-match Test series three-nil in 1972-73 (in Australia). However Pakistan's worst series defeat came in England in 1962 when it lost the five match Test series four-nil.

• The victory was Australia's fourth in a row (including its win against Zimbabwe at Harare). This equals its best sequence since its four consecutive victories against the West Indies during the 1975-76 season.