Stats highlights from South Africa’s historic run-chase against Australia in Perth

S Rajesh21-Dec-2008
Graeme Smith is one of only two batsmen to score three centuries in successful fourth-innings run-chases © Getty Images
The last quarter of 2008 continues to be an excellent one for fourth-innings run-chases: New Zealand started the trend, chasing 317 against Bangladesh in Chittagong exactly two months ago; India raised the bar even further with an outstanding chase of 387 against England in Chennai last week; but South Africa did something even more incredible in Perth today, coasting to 414 to inflict a six-wicket defeat upon Australia and bring up the second-highest successful run-chase in Test cricket. It also means three of the top five such chases have come in the last five-and-a-half years, and two of them in the last ten days.As was pointed out in last week’s Numbers Game column, successful fourth-innings chases have been far more common in the 2000s than in previous decades, and this becomes the 32nd 200-plus chase in these nine years. No wonder, then, that the fourth-innings runs-per-wicket figure in this decade is 29.21, higher than it had been in any decade since 1950. AB de Villiers’ match-winning 108 was the 46th fourth-innings century during this period; add 242 fifties to it, and you’ll get a good idea of how good this decade has been for batsmen in the last innings.The pitch in Perth stayed pretty good throughout the five days, which isn’t so unusual these days either. The Chennai track had a mean look to it but wasn’t particularly spiteful on the final day, which was one of the reasons why India’s fourth-innings total was the highest of the match, as was the case in Perth. Till October 2008, this had only been achieved 17 times in the entire history of Test cricket. In the last two months, however, three more instances have already been added, with New Zealand, India and South Africa all getting the highest total of the game in successful run-chases. South Africa have successfully chased 200-plus targets seven times since 2000, the most by any team during this period.What’s also incredible is the apparent ease with which most of the highest run-chases have been achieved – in four of the top five such cases, teams have won losing fewer than five wickets: Don Bradman’s Invincibles chased 404 for the loss of only three wickets at Headingley in 1948, while India lost only four in chasing 406 and 387.More numbers Graeme Smith’s century yesterday was his third in the fourth innings of a match, and all of them have led to wins. Most batsmen struggle in the last innings of Tests, but Smith seems to relish the challenge, averaging 56.40 in 26 fourth innings. His last five such innings have been 85, 62, 3*, 154* and 108. Among batsmen who have scored at least 1000 fourth-innings runs, Smith’s average puts him in third place in the all-time list, behind two legendary openers, Geoffrey Boycott and Sunil Gavaskar.

Best fourth-innings averages in Tests (Qual: 1000 runs)

BatsmanInningsRunsAverage100s/ 50sGeoff Boycott34123458.763/ 7Sunil Gavaskar33139858.254/ 8Graeme Smith26112856.403/ 6Ricky Ponting35118753.954/ 3Gordon Greenidge38138353.193/ 6Limiting the results to just wins in fourth innings, Smith’s stocks go up even higher – with 844 runs from 15 innings, his average is an incredible 84.40, next only to Ricky Ponting’s 92.77 (with a cut-off of 500 runs). They are the only two to score three hundreds in fourth-innings wins. Among the three century partnerships in South Africa’s run-chase was the 124-run stand between AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, who are fast developing one of the most prolific batting pairs for them. In 16 partnerships, the pair has put together 1275 runs, including six century stands, for an average of 85. Their last five partnerships read 112, 5, 256, 124, and 124. Among South African pairs who’ve added at least 1000, de Villiers and Kallis are in second place, next only to Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith, who averaged 100.36 in 11 innings. Of the six South Africans who batted, five of them topped 50, with Neil McKenzie being the only one to miss out. It was only the third instance of five South African batsmen topping 50 in an innings in Australia, but in both previous occasions, the team had been bowled out. It was Australia’s second successive defeat in Perth, after their 72-run loss to India earlier this year. Only once earlier have they lost consecutive Tests here – 1984 and 1985, when West Indies and New Zealand beat the home team convincingly. (Click here for their entire result list in Perth.)

Stats preview to the four-ODI series between India and West Indies in the Caribbean

Siddhartha Talya25-Jun-2009International cricket returns to its regular grind after the Twenty20 wave of the IPL and the World Twenty20. The success of the two tournaments leaves the 50-over format competing for popularity, and India and West Indies will play out its most immediate test. The Indian cricketers managed to avoid much of the media backlash in the aftermath of their woeful exit from the World Twenty20,with a bulk of their team flying straight to the Caribbean from England. However, this the tour hands them a chance of atoning for the debacle by reversing their abysmal record in the region. Of the 20 ODIs India have played in the West Indies, they’ve wonjust five – the only country where they have done worse is in South Africa. (Click here for India’s ODI record against each team overseas.)The teams have played five ODI series in the West Indies, with India emerging winners just once, in 2002. But success then was small consolation following a heartbreaking loss in the Tests, when India squandered a 1-0 lead and eventually lost the series 2-1. India, before their next outing in 2006, was the team to beat in ODIs,winning on 17 consecutive occasions while chasing. But an agonizing one-run defeat inKingston ended the run and India never recovered, losing the ODI series 4-1.Since 2005, the teams have played 14 ODIs and their record stands even, with seven wins and losses for each.West Indies have a point to prove themselves, despite the convincing series win two years ago and reaching the semi-finals of the World Twenty20. Though they’ve won 22 of the 38 ODI series played at home, and have a favourable win-loss ratio against most teams except South Africa andAustralia, their record since 2008 has been poor. They’ve won eight – three of them against Bermuda and Canada – and lost 20, including 5-0 series defeats against South Africa and Australia, and a 3-0 loss to Pakistan.

India and West Indies – Performance in ODIs

PlayedWonLostWin-Loss RatioIndiaagainst West Indies (overall)9035530.66India in West Indies205150.33India in 200910723.50West Indies in 200911370.42

Runs per wicket

IndiaWest IndiesHead-to-head since 200534.5529.40In 200948.2326.03Like in the World Twenty20, it was the batting that let India down in their previous ODI series in the Caribbean. However, the series was more closely fought than the final scoreline of 4-1 suggests. There were phases in each of the five games where either team could have driven home the advantage, but West Indies won the battle of the nerves in the end. The first three ODIs were decided in the last over, India failed to capitalise on early wickets in the fourth and botched up the run-chase in the fifth, losing by 18 runs.But only five Indian players from that squad feature in this tour. Among those in the current squad, Yuvraj Singh was India’s top performer, averaging 45.75 from four games and scoring two half-centuries. Suresh Raina struggled, averaging 17.25, while MS Dhoni didn’t make much of an impact with 23.75. (Click here for the record of India’s batsmen against West Indies.)Still, India’s batsmen have enjoyed an excellent run since the start of the year with five of their top six averaging over 40. Both of India’s series wins this year have come overseas, in Sri Lanka and New Zealand while their opponents have had a disappointing year so far with three consecutive series defeats, to New Zealand and twice to England.

Performance of Indian batsmen

BatsmanRuns and Average in 2009Runs and Average against West IndiesRuns and Average against WI in WIMS Dhoni450 at 90317 at 39.6295 at 23.75Yuvraj Singh384 at 42.66541 at 31.82194 at 32.33Gautam Gambhir375 at 46.8771 at 23.66-Suresh Raina266 at 44.33191 at 21.2269 at 17.25Yusuf Pathan104 at 26–Rohit Sharma87 at 87–Ravindra Jadeja60 and —Ishant Sharma tops the wickets chart for India in 2009 and he’s been supported well by Praveen Kumar. Spinners Pragyan Ojha and Yuvraj have also proved effective, though Harbhajan Singh has had a fairly quiet year. Ashish Nehra, who returns to the Indian side after a long break, excelled in the IPL and if his form is anything to go by, India’s bowling attack appears in good shape.For West Indies, as usual, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been the stand-out player this year with an average of 62.14 in 10 games. He’s followed by Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who had a superb outing the last time he played India in the Caribbean. Sarwan, in fact, has an excellent overall record against India, averaging 69.69 in 20 ODIs. (Click here for the record of West Indies batsmen against India, and here for their record in the West Indies.)

Performance of West Indies batsmen

BatsmanRuns and Average in 2009Runs and Average against IndiaRuns and Average in West IndiesShivnarine Chanderpaul435 at 62.141223 at 34.942432 at 41.22Chris Gayle425 at 42.501050 at 37.502543 at 34.36Ramnaresh Sarwan273 at 30.33906 at 69.692098 at 38.85Dwayne Bravo198 at 33202 at 28.85768 at 25.60Denesh Ramdin141 at 17.62156 at 39239 at 17.07Dwayne Bravo has had a decent year, averaging 33 with the bat and taking ten wickets at 25. Kieron Pollard has been their most effective bowler with 12 wickets at 25.41, while Jerome Taylor, too, has been impressive. Though Michael Holding pointed out that the absence of Fidel Edwards could hurt West Indies, his performance in ODIs this year has been ordinary with eight wickets at 44.50.

A look at the bowlers who’ve conceded the highest and least number of boundaries, and the runs scored and conceded by teams

S Rajesh15-May-2009One of the features of the IPL this year has been the manner in which spin has played such a dominant role. South Africa isn’t traditionally known as a spinners’ haven, but with the tournament being played at the end of the season, the pitches have been slow, and the lack of pace has been the mantra for all bowling teams.Conditions have been such that not only have the specialist spinners had a good time, even the part-timers have enjoyed plenty of success. Rohit Sharma has led the way – he is closer to the purple cap prize for the highest-wicket-taker than the corresponding award for runs – while JP Duminy and Suresh Raina are two others who’ve given their captains more-than-handy options with the ball.One of the reasons spinners, even the part-time ones, have done so well is the fact that they’ve dried up the boundaries much better than the fast bowlers. The two tables below list out the bowlers whose boundary percentages are the lowest and the highest (in terms of balls bowled per boundary, among those who’ve bowled at least 75 deliveries). The first list comprises almost entirely of spinners, while the second is made up completely of fast and medium-fast bowlers.The bowler heading the first list isn’t a specialist spinner but Duminy, who has conceded only two fours and two sixes in the 84 balls he has bowled so far, an average of 21 balls per boundary conceded. He has bowled in four games so far, and has twice completed his full quota going at less than four per over. Bangalore’s current captain is next, averaging 14.39 balls per boundary, while the amazingly consistent Pragyan Ojha is third with just 13 fours and three sixes conceded in 225 balls. In fact, in ten matches only once has he conceded more than seven runs per over. Murali Kartik has been economical as well, but unlike Ojha he has found wickets hard come by, taking just three so far. Among the part-timers, Rohit and Raina figure prominently in the top ten.

Bowlers with highest balls perboundary in the IPL

Bowler4s conceded6s concededBall bowledBalls per boundaryEcon rateJP Duminy228421.005.00Anil Kumble11725914.395.88Pragyan Ojha13322514.066.00Murali Kartik8416213.506.00Kevin Pietersen337813.006.53Rohit Sharma439012.865.86Suresh Raina618211.715.63Ravindra Jadeja9111611.606.46Rajat Bhatia628811.006.47Brad Hodge448410.507.42At the other end of the spectrum are the bowlers who’ve leaked boundaries in abundance, and at the top of that list is Chennai’s Manpreet Gony, who had such an excellent IPL last time but has struggled to make an impression in South Africa. In 78 balls he has conceded 21 boundaries – 14 fours and seven sixes. He is followed closely by Punjab’s Sreesanth, who has been taken apart in every match he has played. Those two are the only bowlers who’ve leaked more than ten per over (among those who’ve bowled 75 balls). Ajit Agarkar has been equally infuriating for Kolkata and follows in third place, followed by another bowler who was a big hit last year but has struggled this time. Yusuf Abdulla has taken plenty of wickets, but he has also been generous in conceding boundaries: he is third in the list of bowlers who’ve conceded the most number of sixes, after Shane Warne (13) and Piyush Chawla (11). Irfan Pathan, who is in tenth spot, has given away the most number of fours – 33.

Bowlers with lowest balls per boundary in the IPL

Bowler4s conceded6s concededBalls bowledBalls per boundaryEcon rateManpreet Gony147783.7110.76Sreesanth109784.1110.69Ajit Agarkar2161144.229.63Ashok Dinda138964.579.50Yusuf Abdulla25101684.808.60Shoaib Maqsusi1471024.868.96Dwayne Smith116844.948.85Vinay Kumar2251465.418.34Jacques Kallis2881985.508.42Irfan Pathan3392365.627.80Teams and their run scoring/conceding patternsDelhi and Chennai, the two top teams so far, have clearly done the basics right, playing the least number of dot balls – they, along with Deccan, are the three teams whose dot-ball percentages are less than 40. Their boundary percentages are high too, which suggests they are doing plenty of things right in that department.

Team-wise batting stats in the IPL

TeamBat averageRuns per overDot ball %1s, 2s, 3s %Boundary %Delhi Daredevils33.527.9138.0546.0215.93Chennai Super Kings26.728.3136.8246.0917.09Rajasthan Royals19.346.9943.8642.6513.49Deccan Chargers22.657.9939.9445.0115.06Royal Challengers Bangalore19.637.2642.7543.5413.70Mumbai Indians22.977.3340.2547.1112.64Kings XI Punjab23.227.5640.0646.6913.25Kolkata Knight Riders22.517.0842.5044.5812.93Among the bowling teams, Rajasthan have done better than anyone else in squeezing th pressure by bowling dot balls. Mumbai’s boundary percentage conceded is low, but they’ve also struggled to hit the boundaries when batting. Punjab have leaked the highest percentage of boundaries, thanks largely to Sreesanth, while Kolkata’s bowling stats are pretty dismal as well – their runs per wicket is easily the worst among all teams.

Team-wise bowling stats in the IPL

TeamBowl averageRuns per overDot ball %1s, 2s, 3s %Boundary %Delhi Daredevils18.527.5940.5445.7113.75Chennai Super Kings20.097.6439.6445.0915.27Rajasthan Royals20.237.1443.5443.3213.14Deccan Chargers21.207.5140.5744.7114.72Royal Challengers Bangalore27.107.6038.6447.8513.51Mumbai Indians20.626.9941.6846.3112.01Kings XI Punjab30.348.0441.3842.0016.62Kolkata Knight Riders34.937.9638.6446.1515.21

Dileep Premachandran looks at the enormity of Pakistan’s Twenty20 triumph, and how much it means to the country during troubled times

Dileep Premachandran21-Jun-2009This is no Cinderella story. This is about the ugly sister who woke up to find that she had a glass slipper on her feet. Remember that this is the team that has no home series to look forward to in the foreseeable future, the country that had the ICC Champions Trophy taken away from it and given to South Africa. These are the players who were prevented from playing in the IPL, and the same side that was annihilated by South Africa and India in warm-up matches. But less than three weeks on, they are champions of the world. Their fans, who have had to put up with so much over the past few years and whose support has been so steadfast and magnificent, deserve this perhaps more than the players do. This was their moment, one that they won’t ever forget.Younis Khan jokingly called himself the ‘Second Khan’ at the post-match press conference. In truth, this victory could mean even more than the one in 1992. Back then, despite their inconsistency, Pakistan were the glamour boys of international cricket, big drawcards wherever they went. These days, they have become the pariahs. The players, caught in the crossfire of global politics, have seen their opportunities to shine dwindle, and watched with both envy and curiosity as those with less talent scooped up million-dollar contracts and endorsement deals.The parallels to 1992 are unmistakeable though. Pakistan don’t like doing things the easy way. Not for them the easy stroll in the park, not when they can scramble across an obstacle course that would test an SAS commando. Back in the day when everything smelt like teen spirit, Pakistan lost three of their first five games and would probably have been eliminated but for the Adelaide game against England being rained off. The revival started with convincing victories over Australia and Sri Lanka at the WACA, before back-to-back wins against highly fancied New Zealand put them into the final. Wasim Akram’s mastery of swing did the rest.The mandatory lousy start here included a 48-run thumping by England, and a botched run-chase against the Sri Lankans in the Super Eights. But emphatic victories against New Zealand and Ireland clinched the semi-final place that had eluded the likes of Australia and India, before South Africa, who looked pretty much the complete side, were caught cold by the Shahid Afridi show. There was a re-run in the final, with Abdul Razzaq also chipping in to prove that there really is no substitute for big-match experience.Afridi and Razzaq were in the squad when Pakistan put up a decent Twenty20 total in a World Cup final at Lord’s in 1999. Unfortunately, it was a 50-over contest, and Australia chased down the runs with embarrassing ease. Two years ago, they hauled themselves out of a mid-match ditch to come with a lofted hit of victory against India, but Misbah-ul-Haq’s attempted paddle found the fielder and not the rope. Often, a couple of feet is all that separates the sporting immortals from the also-rans.Watching the lap of honour after the game, I was reminded of one of sport’s true Cinderella stories, of the Danish footballers who landed up at Euro ’92 after cutting short their summer holidays. Yugoslavia had been banned, and the Danes offered an eleventh-hour invitation. They rode their luck to the final, against a German side that had made its way there while building up their traditional head of big-tournament steam. The final was a mismatch, only it was the mavericks that bossed it against the examplars of consistency.And like the Danes, Pakistan’s support has illuminated this competition. Some might have found the horn-blaring celebrations at Trent Bridge a little foreign, but it’s exactly that sort of passion that has kept the game going in Pakistan despite all the trials and tribulations. Lunatics that target even sportsmen may be holding parts of the country to ransom, but the spirit of 1992 was in ample evidence at Lord’s today. In times of trouble, the inheritors of the Kardar-Fazal-Imran legacy invariably find a way, and while the world may not yet heed Younis’s impassioned plea to go and play there, it’s once again been reminded that you ignore Pakistan cricket at your peril.

Morne Morkel’s evolution was the biggest gain for the hosts in this series, while Dale Steyn, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher rose to the occasion like true champions

Andrew McGlashan in Johannesburg18-Jan-2010South Africa were made to work hard for their well-deserved share of the series, but eventually broke England’s resistance in a floodgate-opening victory at the Wanderers. Andrew McGlashan casts his eye over the men who contested the series.Though South Africa shared the series with England, the way some of their old hands and new comers performed, there is plenty to cheer about•Getty ImagesGraeme Smith – 9In his country’s hour of need Smith, once again, came forward to accept the challenge. After a poor start at Centurion he became increasingly dominant and his back-to-back innings of 183 and 105 would, in most circumstances, have been enough to secure a series victory. With James Anderson struggling to find his inswing to the left-handers, England didn’t have a bowler to control Smith as Matthew Hoggard did so well five years so. Still, he came to the Wanderers as a captain under pressure, but galvanised his team in produce a commanding display. As an opener Smith is right at the top of the pile and if he is hungry enough, and his team can build on their efforts in the last two Tests, he has many years in front of him. Should have been Man of the Series.Ashwell Prince – 2He has always been a reluctant opener and Prince’s results reflected his unease at the position. The series started promisingly enough with a gusty 45 in the first innings at Centurion, but after that it was a case of diminishing returns. He was on the receiving end of some good balls, especially in the first innings at Durban and Cape Town, but also became paralysed against Graeme Swann which isn’t a good sign with a tour to India looming. His place for the trip is under threat and his future, if he has one, should lie in the middle order.Hashim Amla – 7Amla is a vastly improved player from the one labelled a “walking wicket” by the visitors during the 2004-05 tour. England still felt they had his number, but Amla’s results suggest otherwise with three important innings during the series. His second-innings hundred at Centurion was a masterful display on a tricky surface, while his punchy displays at Cape Town and the Wanderers were ideal counter-attacking knocks, tailor-made for the situation. Apart from a ropey match at Durban, he was also impressive at short leg. A possible future captain.Jacques Kallis – 9What a phenomenal cricketer. The game will only truly appreciate how great Kallis is when he eventually retires. He will leave a gaping hole in South Africa’s team. The series began with doubts over his fitness, but they were immediately allayed with a superb opening-day hundred, a feat repeated in tough conditions at Newlands. That both centuries came after South Africa were put in is further evidence of his skill. After his rib injury healed he returned to bowling duties and provided a useful holding role, and the imbalance of the team when he couldn’t provide those overs highlighted his importance to the side.AB de Villiers – 7It was a strange series for de Villiers, who never quite cashed in as his form threatened he might, yet he played some momentum-seizing innings. At Centurion and Newlands he helped take the game away from England with counter-attacking displays, always keen to try and dominate Swann with swift footwork. Was involved in a horrid mix-up with Smith at Durban and gifted his wicket in the first innings at Cape Town, but played selflessly when the team needed it. Electric in the field and wasn’t afraid to get under England’s skins.JP Duminy – 3Duminy was a shadow of the player that took Australia by storm a little over a year ago and now faces a challenge to reaffirm his credentials. England targeted him with the short ball in the ODIs and began with the same plan in the Tests, but he also had plenty of problems against Swann. In fact, Duminy’s own offspin was his main contribution to the series as he sparked England’s last collapse at Newlands, but if Prince is moved down the order he could find himself out of the side. Remains a huge talent.Mark Boucher – 8You can’t buy experience like Boucher’s. He has seen everything the game can throw at him and remains vital to South Africa as they try to rediscover their top form. Before the series there were suggestions that his time may be coming to an end, but after consistent contributions with bat and gloves he showed he has plenty of time left in the game – not that there are many challengers for his position. His 95 at the Wanderers was just the innings South Africa needed and he passed 5000 Test runs. He will soon overtake Adam Gilchrist as the highest scoring wicketkeeper of all time and he still catches everything behind the stumpsDale Steyn – 8If Steyn had been fully fit through the series, South Africa would have emerged on top. As it transpired, he missed the first Test and wasn’t fully recovered at Durban. Only at Cape Town and the Wanderers did he hit his straps, and in those two Tests he was simply awesome. It’s still impossible to work out how he didn’t remove Paul Collingwood at Newlands and he fully deserved his five-wicket haul in the final Test. With such a smooth action he is wonderful to watch and is comfortably the leading quick bowler in the world. His batting is also improving and the No. 8 position can be a long-term aim.Morne Morkel – 8South Africa’s biggest gain from this series has been the development of Morkel. The expectations have always been huge and Morkel hadn’t quite lived up to the hype earlier in his career. Now he looks ready to become the ideal new-ball partner for Steyn. His height creates disconcerting bounce from a good length while he has the pace to go along with it. His hold over Andrew Strauss was a key feature of the series and gave South Africa vital control over the England captain. His five-wicket haul at Cape Town, and the way he regularly roughed up the tail, bodes well for the future.Paul Harris – 5Harris himself knows he isn’t the most talented spinner in the world and some of the criticism he receives is unfair, but when South Africa were twice aiming to bowl England out in the second innings he couldn’t do the job. He started well with a five-wicket haul at Centurion, but from there his confidence ebbed away. His performance at Cape Town was particularly disappointing as he struggled to find the correct length and was outbowled by Duminy. After a horses-for-courses omission at the Wanderers, Harris will regain his place for India where he must at least provide his captain with control.Friedel de Wet – 5His future appears in doubt after he picked up a serious back injury at Newlands and he faces a lengthy period on the sidelines. It’s sad because, while not being an outstanding prospect, he certainly appeared capable of holding his own. He almost secured victory on his debut with a late final-day burst with the new ball at Centurion before being omitted for Steyn’s return. Despite being in pain he ran in for his captain at Cape Town which showed his heart.Makhaya Ntini – 2It’s always sad to see a player who has provided so much for his country fade away however, Ntini’s decline had been apparent for some time. He was always going to play his 100th Test at Centurion and it became an emotional affair and a hugely significant moment for South Africa. He was given a final chance at Durban but cut a forlorn figure as he went wicketless and was targeted by England. His axing, amid plenty of conjecture, didn’t come as any surprise and he looks set to end short of the 400-wicket mark. Expect plenty of success in county cricket.Wayne Parnell – 6He’s billed as the Next Big Thing in South African cricket and after a nervous first-innings display on debut he gave a glimpse of his potential with the wickets of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. He is a combative character and may need a controlling arm at times, but Smith is strong captain who can provide that. Was down to bat at No. 11 but is seen as an all-round option in the years to come.Ryan McLaren – 5Whether McLaren has a long-term future a Test level is debatable, although he let no one down on his debut at the Wanderers. His accurate seam helped keep the pressure on England in the first innings and accounted for the in-form Paul Collingwood, while he clubbed useful runs before the declaration.

Sunil Gavaskar achieved outstanding numbers as an opener during a period when fast-bowling resources around the world were plentiful

S Rajesh19-Sep-2010Apart from his physical appearance, everything about Sunil Gavaskar was immense, especially the statistical milestones he achieved over his 17-year international career. At a time when fast bowling around the world was strong and healthy, Gavaskar’s technical purity and balance, his impeccable judgement of length and line, his insurmountable powers of concentration, and his range of strokeplay have all left such an indelible mark that he remains one of the foremost opening batsmen of all time. For India he was a blessing, giving the team a resilience that it had sorely lacked in the past. There had been other top-class Indian batsmen before him, but none who sustained the run-scoring excellence as relentlessly as Gavaskar did.He started his Ranji Trophy career with a fifth-ball duck against Mysore, but hundreds in each of his next three Ranji matches confirmed the potential. Even so, none would have anticipated the stunning manner in which he announced his arrival on the world stage.Picked in the squad to tour the West Indies in 1971, Gavaskar justified the move in the most emphatic manner possible, amassing 774 runs in four matches, a tally that remains a record for the most prolific series by a batsman on debut. A couple of his half-centuries helped India to their first win against West Indies, in Port-of-Spain, a venue that remained his favourite throughout his career. That kicked off an amazing sequence of scores, with centuries in each of the next two Tests, and he signed off quite majestically, scoring 124 and 220 in the last Test – again in Port-of-Spain – to become only the second batsman in Test history to score a hundred and a double in the same match.The start was almost too good to be true, and it was inevitable that those lofty standards wouldn’t be sustained, even for a batsman as focused and gifted as Gavaskar: in his next 26 innings, he scored fewer runs than he had in his first eight, and managed just one century, 101 in a losing cause at Old Trafford in 1974.That brief lean spell, though, was the precursor to Gavaskar’s best sustained period in international cricket: in the five years between 1975 and 1979, he averaged nearly 60 and had a fantastic rate of converting fifties into hundreds. Arguably his best innings – the 221 against England at The Oval – came during this phase. In the 10 series he played in these five years, he averaged 50 or more in eight, and over 75 in three.The next five years were considerably less successful – in 11 series during the early- and mid-1980s his average exceeded 50 only three times. This was also the period when he played his worst series – against the touring England side in 1984, Gavaskar totalled 140 runs in eight innings at a miserable average of 17.50.The clamours for his retirement grew during this period, but Gavaskar ensured that when he did leave, he did so on his own terms, averaging more than 58 in his last 16 Tests, and scoring an unforgettable 96 in his final innings.

Sunil Gavaskar’s Test career

PeriodTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sDebut series4774154.804/ 3July 1971 to Jan 19751369327.721/ 6Feb 1975 to Jan 198045443459.9118/ 16Feb 1980 to Sep 198547293940.817/ 14Oct 1985 onwards16128258.274/ 6Career12510,12251.1234/ 45Despite having played during a period when run-scoring was considerably more difficult than it is today, Gavaskar achieved some incredible numbers, becoming the first to get to 10,000 Test runs and 30 centuries. During the two decades in which he played, only six batsmen scored more than 4000 runs at a 50-plus average.

Top batsmen between Jan 1970 and Dec 1989 (Qual: 4000 runs)

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sJaved Miandad101770157.0422/ 36Greg Chappell87711053.8624/ 31Allan Border111848853.3823/ 46Viv Richards108784951.9824/ 37Sunil Gavaskar12510,12251.1234/ 45Geoff Boycott67550550.5016/ 29One of the most remarkable aspects of Gavaskar’s career was the success he achieved against West Indies, the best team of the 1980s. He scored 13 centuries against them, which is the second-highest for a batsman against one opposition; only Don Bradman, with 19 against England, has more. Bradman’s overall rate of scoring hundreds was obviously much better than Gavaskar’s, but in this case the rates were comparable: Bradman’s 19 came in 37 Tests, while Gavaskar needed 27 matches for his 13 hundreds.Some of his runs against West Indies were scored when the attacks weren’t quite as fearsome – in his first series, in 1970-71, West Indies had a spin-heavy attack, while in 1978-79 the best bowlers were away playing in World Series Cricket, but even in the other series Gavaskar had some memorable battles against the West Indies’ fast bowlers. Fittingly, some of his most memorable landmarks came against them: in the 1983-84 series in India, he made his 29th hundred, to equal Bradman’s record, and then went past it in Chennai. Both were special innings – the first one, in Delhi, came off a mere 94 balls, while the second was a marathon that lasted more than 10 hours and ended a run-drought of 36 runs from his previous five innings.Of the 2749 runs Gavaskar scored against West Indies, almost 30% came at a single venue – the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. He played five Tests there, and only once did he fail, scoring 1 and 32 in the 1983 series. Despite that, he was the Bradman of Port-of-Spain, averaging 99.12 at the ground. He is also one of only four batsmen to score more than 750 Test runs at an overseas venue, and remains the only one to do it since 1950. Among the grounds he played in, only at two venues did he score more runs – the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Best batsmen against West Indies between 1970 and 1990 (Qual: 750 runs)

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sDennis Amiss9111374.204/ 2Sunil Gavaskar27274965.4513/ 7Wasim Raja1191957.432/ 7Greg Chappell17140056.005/ 7Gundappa Viswanath18145553.884/ 7Ian Chappell1299752.473/ 4Ian Redpath1195647.803/ 5Geoff Boycott17128644.342/ 9Dilip Vengsarkar25159644.336/ 7Allan Border21147942.252/ 11Opening the innings was a tough job in an era when there were plenty of top-class fast bowlers around, but Gavaskar handled the pressures superbly. Apart from the West Indies attack, he played 18 Tests against Imran Khan and 14 against Ian Botham. While both are among the five bowlers who dismissed him most often, Gavaskar had more than his fair share of success against them. He scored four centuries in the 18 Tests he played against Imran – including in each innings of the Karachi Test in 1978, and a memorable unbeaten 127, when he carried the bat through the innings against a rampant Imran in Faisalabad in 1983. (In fact, Gavaskar is one of only two batsmen to score centuries in each innings of a Test three times; Ricky Ponting is the other.) Botham dismissed him eight times, but mostly after he had made reasonable contributions. The bowler who dismissed him cheaply most often was Malcolm Marshall, who too nailed him on eight occasions, seven of them before he touched 25. Of course, the fact that Gavaskar usually faced the first ball of an innings also meant the bowlers had the opportunity to dismiss him off the first ball of the match – this fate befell him three times, with Geoff Arnold, Imran and Marshall the successful bowlers. Bangladesh’s Hannan Sarkar is the only batsman to share this record with Gavaskar.Till the turn of the century Gavaskar was one of only six openers to have scored more than 3000 runs at a 50-plus average. (Three batsmen – Matthew Hayden, Graeme Smith and Virender Sehwag – have joined the club since then, which is another stat to suggest that opening the innings has become comparatively easier in the last decade.)

Highest averages among openers till 2000 (Qual: 3000 runs)

BatsmanInningsRunsAverage100s/ 50sHerbert Sutcliffe83452261.1016/ 23Len Hutton131672156.4719/ 31Jack Hobbs97513056.3714/ 27Bob Simpson70366455.518/ 19Dennis Amiss69327653.7011/ 9Sunil Gavaskar203960750.2933/ 42Geoff Boycott191809148.1622/ 42Saeed Anwar70327148.109/ 21With Chetan Chauhan, Gavaskar formed a formidable opening combination. The two scored runs in all conditions and finished with a highly creditable average of 53.75. Of the 59 times they opened, on 20 occasions they put together a partnership of at least 50.

Best opening pairs before 2000 (Qual: 2000 partnership runs)

PairInningsRunsAverage p’ship100/ 50 standsJack Hobbs-Herbert Sutcliffe38324987.8115/ 10Jack Hobbs-Wilfred Rhodes36214661.318/ 5Bill Lawry-Bob Simpson62359660.949/ 18Len Hutton-Cyril Washbrook51288060.008/ 13Michael Atherton-Graham Gooch44250156.847/ 12Chetan Chauhan-Sunil Gavaskar59301053.7510/ 10Michael Slater-Mark Taylor78388751.1410/ 16Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes148648247.3116/ 26The other aspect of Gavaskar’s career that stood out was his ability to play for long periods, especially in the fourth innings of Tests. Several other top-class batsmen have performed below potential in the last innings of Tests, with Tendulkar being the prime example: in 47 such innings he averages less than 38. But Gavaskar had no such problems, averaging 58.25 in 33 innings, which is second only to Boycott among batsmen who scored at least 1000 fourth-innings runs.One of the features of Gavaskar’s batting – and that of India during the period he played in – was the ability to bat many overs in the last innings. When he scored that 221 at The Oval, India batted 150.5 overs, and there were several other instances when the team batted more than 100 overs. (Click here for a Numbers Game column from July 2007 that compares Gavaskar and Tendulkar in fourth innings; while Gavaskar averaged more than 56 in meaningful fourth innings, Tendulkar only managed an average of less than 27.)

Best Test averages in fourth innings (Qual: 1000 runs)

BatsmanInningsRunsAverage100s/ 50sGeoff Boycott34123458.763/ 7Sunil Gavaskar33139858.254/ 8Graeme Smith30128553.543/ 8Gordon Greenidge38138353.193/ 6Ricky Ponting38131152.444/ 4Matthew Hayden39128749.501/ 9Jacques Kallis41121244.881/ 10Graham Gooch29112144.843/ 5In fact, Gavaskar was at his most prolific in matches that ended in draws. In the 23 Tests he played that India won, his average was only 43.97, and he scored six hundreds. On the other hand, 22 of his 34 hundreds came in draws, and his average shot up to more than 65 in those matches. Gavaskar remains the only batsman to have scored more than 6000 runs in drawn Tests, with Tendulkar more than 400 runs short of the mark.

Most runs in drawn Tests

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sSunil Gavaskar67603965.6422/ 25Sachin Tendulkar67556367.0219/ 25Allan Border59508468.7016/ 27Rahul Dravid53497968.2016/ 26Javed Miandad62457061.7512/ 23Compared to his Test exploits, Gavaskar’s ODI achievements will probably remain a footnote, especially given the manner in which the game – and hence batting stats – have changed over the last decade. His unbeaten 36 in a 60-over game against England in the 1975 World Cup will probably remain his single most talked-about ODI “exploit”, but towards the second half of his career, his ODI skills improved exponentially. In his first 52 ODIs he averaged 25.28, with only seven half-centuries; in his next 56 games, his average increased by more than 20 runs, and he also scored 21 scores of 50-plus, including his only ODI century, an outstanding 88-ball unbeaten 103 against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup.

Gavaskar’s ODI career

PeriodMatchesRunsAverageStrike rate100s/ 50sTill 198452113825.2856.720/ 71985 onwards56195445.4466.011/ 20Career108309235.1362.261/ 27In Tests, Gavaskar’s fourth-innings stats were superb; similarly, in ODIs he was much better when batting with a target in front of him: when batting first he averaged a mediocre 24.22; in run-chases that average doubled to 48.84. Of his 28 scores of 50-plus in ODIs, 19 came when India batted second.

Highest ODI averages in run-chases till Dec 1989 (Qual: 1000 runs)

BatsmanODIsRunsAverageStrike rate100s/ 50sGordon Greenidge67279850.8766.367/ 15Sunil Gavaskar53190548.8461.451/ 18Viv Richards97284046.5586.823/ 20Allan Lamb46155845.8275.122/ 8Javed Miandad66209044.4670.531/ 16Apart from his considerable batting skills, Gavaskar also brought plenty to the table with his astute captaincy. He was often criticised for being too defensive, and while that criticism was probably justified at times, it needs to be remembered that the Indian bowling attack – apart from Kapil Dev – was pretty thin during that period. Only Sourav Ganguly has led India in more Tests than Gavaskar’s 47, and only three captains – Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin and MS Dhoni – have led them to more wins than Gavaskar’s nine. In ODIs, his win percentage as captain was only 27.57 (14 wins in 37 matches) but that also included India’s most accomplished performance on the world stage, when they crushed all opposition on the way to a famous triumph at the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. Add all those achievements up, and it’s easy to see why Sunil Gavaskar is easily one of the greatest cricketers the game has seen.

England’s powerful finale was too good for Bangladesh, but tougher tests await

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford06-Jun-2010It has taken England four Tests, but on the third afternoon at Old Trafford they found the menace to blow Bangladesh away in the manner that most people believed they should managed from the Chittagong Test onwards. For the second time in two days they claimed 10 wickets in a session, but on this occasion there was no Tamim Iqbal charge to overcome. It was an evisceration from first over to last.The conditions again played England a helping hand with a muggy, overcast day. The pitch was covered until around midday and it certainly appeared to have quickened up a fraction as James Anderson and Steven Finn bent their backs. The previous evening it was considered a 50-50 call as to whether Andrew Strauss would enforce the follow-on, but this quickly became an occasion to hurry the game along.”Two crazy sessions to finish the game and it was a nice way to wrap things up,” Strauss said. “Generally we did a very professional and efficient job and a lot has come from those two games of cricket as well. We are pretty happy with the way things went but we are also realistic – there are more significant and sterner tests to come for us.”But it has been really good to have a look at some of the other guys that have come in – the likes of Finny, Ajmal [Shahzad] – they have certainly made a significant impact in this Test match and Eoin Morgan has got a game as well. I think that is encouraging.”It would have been interesting to see what both the captain and the bowlers would have done had the sun been beating down again. Strauss hasn’t always been a fan of the follow-on, while the pace attack have been much less threatening without the assistance of the clouds. As Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh, reiterated: “It doesn’t swing and doesn’t seam in Australia.”Tamim’s assault on the second afternoon – which seemed like an eternity ago after 20 wickets had tumbled in two sessions – did raise further concerns about England’s attack and didn’t do anything to silence the debate over four or five bowlers. That is likely to rumble on until November 25 in Brisbane and Strauss, while not considering the argument that it would have been better for his attack to try and remove Bangladesh in flatter conditions, admitted there was more room for improvement.”You never want to make harder work of it than you do, but I think over the two Test matches there were periods when we would have liked to have bowled better,” he said. “And there were periods we probably would have liked to have batted better as well. I think that is probably the way of looking at it, rather than at what the opposition did. That is not something we can control particularly.”However, this was still by far England’s most clinical display with the ball during their recent head-to-heads with Bangladesh. Anderson began the rout second-ball when he ended Tamim’s memorable series with a short ball that was edged to the keeper and Siddons said his opening spell would have troubled any side.”Anderson’s swing would have beaten any left-hander’s bat in those first few overs,” he said. “His first spell would have got a lot of wickets, [other] batsmen would have been good enough to get bat on them. He tore the heart out of us and he also got his one going the other way which made it very difficult.”Finn, although still not managing to stay on his feet the entire time, bounced out Imrul Kayes for the fourth time in the series and returned to collect his second consecutive five-wicket haul. It secured him the Man-of-the-Series award and, although much sterner tests await, his stock continues to rise to match his considerable height.”I am not kidding myself,” Finn said. “I have taken two five-fors. I was quite fortunate to take five today, I think the other guys bowled fantastically well, especially Ajmal and Jimmy. The pressure they built helped. It is fantastic to take two five-fors in two Tests but by no means am I kidding myself that anything is going to be easier from here on in. It is for me to put in performances and keep trying to do so.”With the promising debut of Shahzad, who claimed the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan to add to his three first-innings scalps, England’s collection of pace bowlers continues to be bolstered. Ryan Sidebottom was left out of the XI here and Stuart Broad will return for the one-dayers which begin against Scotland on June 19.”Long-term you are never going to play the same XI. It is impossible to believe that is going to happen,” Strauss said. “You need to have good strength-in-depth in the bowling resources. We always thought Steven and Ajmal had the capability of playing Test cricket. Finny has shown that over the four Test matches he has played. He has got a good future ahead of him.”Ajmal has taken what we saw in the nets, which we were quite impressed by, out into the middle. He has added his name to that list of guys that are there or thereabouts for selection.”Due to the summer’s mangled schedule, England now take a break from Test action until the end of July when they face Pakistan in a four-match series. With bans being lifted on the likes of the former captain, Younis Khan, they will present a much sterner challenge although a batting collapse will never be far away. However, England can’t expect to take 20 wickets again in such a rush and by the end of that series they’ll need the answers to some pressing Ashes questions.

Plays of the Day from the fourth day of the third Test between India and New Zealand in Nagpur

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2010The Tendulkar moment of the day

It came from his fan Kane Williamson. The delivery from Ishant Sharma kept low even as it cut back in from outside off. Williamson crouched, tried to get the bat in the way but the ball shot under it to clatter on the stumps. Williamson bent his knees and slowly sunk his bat on to the ground. It reminded you of Tendulkar’s reaction when he gets bowled by deliveries that don’t climb as much as expected.Guptill’s horror moment of the day – I
The delivery from Pragyan Ojha landed comfortably outside the leg stump and turned in to the hit the pad. Simon Taufel, who has been slipping up often these days, sent Martin Guptill packing. It was a golden duck for Guptill.Guptill’s horror moment of the day – II
This time around he was at the non-striker’s end as a runner for Jesse Ryder. The ball from Harbhajan Singh turned well clear of bat and bounded off the pad to short-leg but Nigel Llong raised the finger. The unlucky batsman was Ross Taylor who smiled ruefully as he walked off. The best reaction, though, came from Guptill: his mouth opened wide agape, his eyes almost bulged out and he slowly sank to his left.The catch of the day
Gautam Gambhir was just hit on his body by a hard shot from Taylor at short leg when Harbhajan Singh produced a bat-and-pad prod from Gareth Hopkins. Gambhir moved quickly to his right and lunged out with an outstretched hand to pouch it. He got celebratory whacks on his helmet from his team-mates.The drop of the day
Gambhir had retired to the dressing room to get treatment after sustaining that injury on taking a hit from Taylor. He returned and was placed at short extra cover. Ryder crashed one from Harbhajan straight at him at a comfortable height but he clanged it. VVS Laxman held his head and Harbhajan stared ruefully at Gambhir.The celebration of the day
Suresh Raina had lured Ryder to give a catch at mid-off and was immediately enveloped by his team-mates. They then proceeded to ruffle his hair and then started to slap his head in unison. Doug Bollinger would have been happy. For, Raina had once tried to pull Bollinger’s hair out, or so it seemed, after a dismissal in the IPL. Bollinger had just weaved some “fake” hair on his bald pate.

Sehwag’s best ODI score was just one of the many statistical highlights from the opening match of the World Cup

S Rajesh and Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan19-Feb-2011The contrast between the 2007 World Cup game between Bangladesh and India, and this one, couldn’t have been greater. Right from the toss – India had chosen to bat on that occasion – almost everything was completely different between the two games. The biggest difference was Virender Sehwag’s performance: in that Trinidad game he scored 2 off 6; this time he lasted 134 balls more, and, not surprisingly, that made all the difference. Sehwag’s presence meant India scored far more runs in the first ten overs, which in turn put pressure on Bangladesh’s spinners, who had been completely dominant in Port of Spain. The slow nature of the track meant run-scoring wasn’t all that easy in the afternoon, but, as often happens when Sehwag is in this mood, these trivialities didn’t matter a jot.

Contrast between India’s innings in 2007 and 2011

In 2007In 2011The tossIndia chose to batBangladesh chose to fieldScore after 15 overs40 for 3104 for 1Dot balls in first 15 overs73414s/ 6s in first 15 overs2/ 012/ 1Performance of Bangladesh spinners6 for 117 in 30 overs2 for 238 in 33 oversPerformance of Bangladesh fast bowlers4 for 69 in 19.3 overs1 for 129 in 17 oversBefore the tournament Sehwag spoke about his desire to bat for longer periods, and the manner in which he batted here showed he is serious about implementing those plans. He faced 140 deliveries in this innings, which is the most he has ever faced in an ODI innings, beating his earlier record by one ball. In fact, in 223 ODI innings, he has faced more than 120 deliveries only three times, and both the earlier instances were before 2004.The way he paced his innings was interesting: he started off in a frenzy, scoring 12 off his first six balls, but then made only 15 off his next 27, so that after the first ten overs he was on a relatively subdued 27 off 33. The start of the second Powerplay made him switch gears, as he struck four fours off his next six balls, a sequence that turned the momentum India’s way. At the end of the 33rd, he’d scored 104 off 99, before the batting Powerplay helped him move up a further gear, as he scored 33 off 17 balls during this period.

How Sehwag paced his innings

First 6 ballsNext 27 ballsNext 66 ballsLast 41 ballsRuns scored12157771The only bowler who controlled the runs against him to some extent was Rubel Hossain, who gave away only 22 off 29 balls. The most helpless ones were Shafiul Islam (32 off 17 balls) and Abdur Razzak (57 off 33).From Bangladesh’s point of view, they made the job even easier for Sehwag by bowling plenty of boundary balls on both sides of the wicket. Sehwag’s wagon-wheel of boundaries shows there was little the bowlers could do to stem the runsMore stats from the gameThe wagon-wheel for Virender Sehwag’s boundaries shows how freely he scored all round the wicket (Click here for an enlarged image. Check the graphs link on the scorecard to view more graphs.)•ESPNcricinfo LtdHighest total in the opening game of the World Cup
India had been on the receiving end in the first game of the 1975 World Cup, when England, propelled by a century from Dennis Amiss, amassed 334 in 60 overs. India’s 370 against Bangladesh is not only the highest team total on the opening day of World Cups, but also the fifth highest in all World Cup matches.Highest individual score on the opening day in World Cups
The opening day of every World Cup except the 1999 and 2007 editions has seen a century being scored. Sehwag’s 175 surpassed Glenn Turner’s 171 against East Africa which was scored on the opening day of the 1975 World Cup.Highest ODI score for Sehwag
Sehwag, during his 175, went past his previous ODI best of 146. His 175 is the joint second-highest score by an Indian batsman in World Cups, behind Sourav Ganguly’s 183 and the fourth highest overall.Top individual score in ODIs in Bangladesh
Sehwag’s 175 is the highest score in ODIs in Bangladesh, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 141 against Australia in 1998. It is also the highest score by an Indian batsman against Bangladesh and the second-highest overall against Bangladesh, behind Charles Coventry’s 194 in 2009.Most 200-plus partnerships
The 203-run stand between Sehwag and Virat Kohli is the fifth 200-plus stand for India in World Cups, the most for any team. Sehwag was involved a the previous 200-plus stand too, against Bermuda in 2007.Kohli’s century on World Cup debut
Kohli became the first Indian and the 13th batsman to score a century on his World Cup debut. The previous batsman to achieve this feat was Jeremy Bray of Ireland against Zimbabwe in 2007. Andy Flower remains the only batsman to score a century on ODI debut in a World Cup game.Most expensive bowling figures for a Bangladesh bowler
Among bowlers who have bowled atleast five overs in an innings, Shafiul Islam’s economy rate of 9.85 in his seven overs is the highest for a Bangladesh bowler in World Cups, and the fifth highest for a Bangladesh bowler in all ODIs.

Three years on the county circuit with Lancashire has toughened up Faf du Plessis’ game, making him ready for international cricket

Firdose Moonda in Dhaka21-Mar-2011When Faf du Plessis signed a Kolpak deal in 2008, it wasn’t because he didn’t want to return to South Africa. He left at a time when the player drain was not gurgling as fiercely as it had a few years earlier, when quotas were said to be driving white players away, and he left with an intention some of those players never had – to go back.”When I signed for Lancashire, I wanted to sign for three years and then not play county cricket again, because by that time I backed myself to be in the South African set-up,” he said from the team hotel in Dhaka on Monday. It was a calculation that paid off to the last decimal point as three years later, in 2011, du Plessis was picked for South Africa, the culmination of a journey that started when he was still in high school, with AB de Villiers as his classmate.du Plessis and de Villiers travelled a similar road, both went to the esteemed Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool in Pretoria where they were in the same class, both played first-team cricket in their second year of high-school and both were spotted by the Northerns set-up. While de Villiers’ career skyrocketed from there, du Plessis hit a plateau and he had to watch while his friend soared into the big time as he was still plying his trade at domestic level, searching for the stepladder.The South African squad was virtually a lager, tough to break into and du Plessis realised that he would need something more to be able to get through. That was what drove his decision to head to England, where he would play much more cricket in a season that he ever would in South Africa. “In county cricket you play 18 four-day games a season, two one-day competitions and 18 twenty-over games, but in South Africa you play five or six of each. It’s a lot of cricket but as a batter you really do learn a lot from county cricket.”At 26-years old, du Plessis has played more than 70 first-class games, so even though he is a relatively inexperienced international player, he has a healthy chunk of match time under his belt. “I played as much as I can so I am more experienced than other 26-year olds. I know my game a lot better than most other guys my age do.”Besides the constant engaging in battle, county cricket also helped du Plessis refine his game against spinners, because of the conditions and the opposition. “In South Africa, it’s nice to face spinners because it generally doesn’t turn a lot and doesn’t get that slow. In England, there is more cricket played on the wickets and they deteriorate more.” It was on the latter type of surfaces that du Plessis had to face the likes of Mushtaq Ahmed and being a batsman in the middle order meant that had face those types a lot, and so became fluent in playing spin.He played alongside VVS Laxman and Mohammad Yousuf and was able to watch how they approach the tweakers. A naturally athletic player, du Plessis was able to fine tune his footwork because of the amount of spin he had to face, to polish his ability on the leg side, particularly with the sweep shot which World Cup viewers would have seen him execute with great success. du Plessis brought back that form and knowledge to the Titans franchise where he has consistently being among their top run scorers.He usually bats at No. 4 there but his role at the World Cup has seen him move down to No. 6, so that his skills against spin can be maximised. “That’s the reason I am here,” he said. “I proved that I am not scared of facing spin and I play spin quite well so my role is to get out in the middle order when it’s quite tough and the wickets are turning. I have to be solid then and try to keep the scoring at a run a ball.”du Plessis’ one half-century in this World Cup, against Bangladesh, came at that rate, not by chance but by careful planning, which involved taking very few risks. Despite having the ability to smash the ball, du Plessis often doesn’t unless he feels it’s absolutely necessary, and has self-presevation and strike rotation at the top of his agenda. “I try to score a single off every ball, by doing that I am are not giving the opposition the chance to get me out,” he said. “If they bowl a few good balls, I know will make up for it with a boundary.”It’s maturity alone that allows du Plessis to be able to have this approach and the county circuit gave him that maturity. It’s also why he has slipped into the South African side so seamlessly, because he brings an attitude of pre-existing professionalism and big-match temperament. “I never felt like I did not belong here.”