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McMillan simplifies a record and lots more from the third Test Francis Payne - 3 April 2001
Prior to the final Test between New Zealand and Pakistan, the question of most runs off one over in Test cricket was not one which had an entirely straightforward answer. There were, for instance, the questions of eight and six-ball overs, overs including extras, no-balls which at the time were not debited against the bowler and other such items which required extensive footnotes. Craig McMillan has laid all these variables to rest. The 26 runs he hit off Younis Khan's solitary over at Hamilton means that the following have just one categoric answer:
Here is the list which McMillan now heads:
Six-ball over
26 (444464) Craig McMillan off Younis Khan NZ v P Hamilton 2000/01
24 (46266L) Andy Roberts off Ian Botham WI v E Port-of-Spain 1980/81
24 (444N444) Sandeep Patil off Bob Willis I v E Manchester 1982
24 (464604) Ian Botham off Derek Stirling E v NZ The Oval 1986
24 (006666) Kapil Dev off Eddie Hemmings I v E Lord's 1990
24 (244266) Ian Smith off Atul Wassan NZ v I Auckland 1989/90
The no-ball bowled by Willis was not debited against the bowler's analysis
Probably the most extraordinary aspect of the record over was that it was the first time in Test history (1540 Tests) that a player had hit every ball of an over to the boundary. Sandeep Patil (above) had hit six fours in an over but the over included a no-ball.
McMillan therefore goes to the top of another list which, although very short, intrestingly includes another instance for New Zealand against Pakistan. The most fours off consecutive balls in an over is now:
Five
Denis Lindsay off Johnny Gleeson SA v A Port Elizabeth 1969/70
Rodney Redmond off Majid Khan NZ v P Auckland 1972/73
David Hookes off Tony Greig A v E Melbourne 1976/77
Mohammad Azharuddin off Lance Klusener I v SA Calcutta 1996/97
McMillan extended his sequence when he hit a seventh successive boundary (a six) from the next ball he faced in the next over bowled by Saqlain Mushtaq.
McMillan actually hit 41 off ten successive balls as follows:
McMillan's partner, Stephen Fleming, reached his fifty in the 109th over while McMillan was on 46. From that point on, until the innings was declared when he was dismissed, McMillan scored 52 off 19 balls while Fleming added just a single from the six balls he faced.
McMillan's sequence after Fleming reached his fifty was 0402441444464600140.
New Zealand's victory against Pakistan was their largest ever by an innings margin. The biggest of their ten wins by an innings are:
The margin of an innings and 185 was also the worst in Pakistan's history. Their previous worst was by an innings and 174 at Kingston in 1957/58.
On that occasion Pakistan were reduced to just two fit specialist bowlers as West Indies ran up 790-3 declared and Gary Sobers set a Test record of 365 not out sharing a second wicket stand of 446 with Conrad Hunte (260 run out).
Opening bowler Mahmood Hussain had broken down after bowling just five deliveries, left-arm spinner Nasim-ul-Ghani also suffered injury and captain AH Kardar got through 37 overs with an injured hand. This left the lion-hearted Fazal Mahmood to bowl 85.2 overs (2-247) while Khan Mohammad sent down 54 overs (0-259).
During New Zealand's innings at Hamilton, Matthew Bell and then Mark Richardson reached 1000 runs for the New Zealand first-class season. While this has been achieved on just nine occasions (no one has done it twice) it is interesting to note that three times two players have reached 1000 runs in the same season.
The most runs in a New Zealand first-class season is:
Bell became just the fourth player to scores as many as six centuries in a New Zealand first-class season after Martin Crowe (1986/87), Everton Weekes (1955/56) and Graeme Hick (1988/89).
During his innings in the third Test, Richardson also reached 2000 runs for the entire 2000/01 season His record was made up as follows:
Richardson thus joins a most exclusive club of players who have amassed 2000 runs in an overseas season (i.e. outside of England where traditionally the greater number of matches has meant higher run tallies). No player has ever scored as many as 2000 runs in one season in one single country outside England.
The most runs in an overseas season is:
In the Test at Hamilton, Mark Richardson celebrated one year as an opening batsman by recording his maiden Test century. Since moving to opener in the final Shell Trophy match of 1999/00, his record is:
The first wicket partnership of 181 between Richardson and Matthew Bell was the fifth best in New Zealand's Test history. The highest are:
Richardson and Bell provided just the third instance for New Zealand of both openers scoring a century in the same innings:
Furthermore, both Richardson and Bell were registering their maiden Test centuries. The six occasions where this has happened in the same innings for New Zealand are:
The two New Zealand openers also recorded the rare feat of passing the opposition's first innings total without loss. It was only the twelfth time that this had happened in Test cricket.
* gained lead on first day
An even more rare feat in Test cricket is that of both openers scoring more than the opposition's entire first innings total. Richardson (106) and Bell (105) both scored more by themselves than Pakistan had manged in its first innings of 104. There had been only one previous instance in all Test cricket and that was a prelude to one of cricket's most famous moments.
At The Oval in 1948, England were bowled out for just 52 (Len Hutton 30 - last man out - Ray Lindwall 6-20) and Australia's openers Sid Barnes (61) and Arthur Morris (196 run out) both bettered the England score putting on 117 for the first wicket. When Barnes was out, Don Bradman came in and was bowled second ball by Eric Hollies in what turned out to be his final Test innings (although at the time there was every chance he could have had a second innings).
During New Zealand's innings at Hamilton, two new record partnerships for were created for New Zealand against Pakistan. Richardson and Bell went past the 159 by Glenn Turner and Rodney Redmond in the third Test at Auckland in 1972/73 while McMillan and Fleming ousted the 128 between Brian Hastings and Mark Burgess in the previous Test of that series played at Wellington.
The record partnerships for New Zealand against Pakistan are now:
Adam Parore set a record for the most wicket-keeping dismissals for New Zealand when he caught Fazl-e-Akbar off Daryl Tuffey in Pakistan's first innings at Hamilton. His previous catch, Humayun Farhat off Tuffey, had given him the record for wicket-keeping catches.
The leading New Zealand wicket-keepers are now:
* plus three catches as a fielder
Two catches taken by Parore as a substitute (i.e. he was not in the playing eleven) when he deputised for Smith in Pakistan in 1990/91 are not included in his record.
Parore took seven catches in the third Test, emulating his feat in the first Test at Auckland. The most dismissals for New Zealand in a Test is:
As noted in an earlier edition, Harford, missed several chances in the game above, was dropped for the following Test and replaced by John Ward. Indeed, Harford never appeared in first-class cricket again.
New Zealand gained a lead of 300 or more for just the fourth time in their Test history at Hamilton. Their largest first innings leads have been:
* New Zealand won the game
Pakistan's two totals at Hamilton were their lowest ever in Tests in New Zealand. Their lowest overall against New Zealand are:
Finally, some figures which underline the overwhelming dominance of New
Zealand in the third Test:
© CricInfo
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