YEAR END STATS
Follow UsAs another exciting year ends, England’s approach to Tests was the most fascinating. But, in terms of wins across formats, India recorded the most wins, also they have played the most matches.
A lot of jinxes were broken with a few batters like David Warner, Virat Kohli, and Cheteshwar Pujara breaking their long century drought.
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Most matches played in a year
For the first time in cricketing history, over 500 matches were played. In total, 735 matches were played across formats. 43 Tests, 161 ODIs, and 531 T20Is were played. In terms of wins, 698 wins were achieved.
In T20Is, the Test-playing nations played only 165 matches. Whereas, the associate nations played 366 T20Is.
India’s year in terms of wins
India might not have a trophy to their name, but in terms of wins, they had 46 wins in 71 matches across the format. India played only seven Tests this year, won four, and lost the other three. In ODIs, they had 14 wins in 24 matches with eight losses. In the shortest format, they had 28 wins in 40 matches.
A year that broke a lot of jinxes
From his start in 2008 till November 2019, Kohli had 70 centuries across formats. Then, he had a drought of 83 innings without one. However, the two years and 285 days bleak run came to an end with the 71st when he scored a century in T20Is against Afghanistan.
Warner recently scored a double century in his 100th Test and also had a long century-less run. Before his 200 against the Proteas, he hit a century against England in the ODI series. This century came after 67 innings, the longest gap for an Australian opener without one across formats.
Pujara in the second innings of the first Test against Bangladesh, registered his 19th century. His century came after a break of 1441 days and 52 innings. His previous one came against Australia in Sydney in January 2019.
Among the fab four, Kane Williamson also suffered a dry run of centuries. Before his double ton, Williamson scored a century across format in Jan 2021. Post that innings, Williamson batted 41 innings without one.
New Zealand in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2022, broke an 11-year-old record. Before their win against Australia, New Zealand’s last international win in Australia dated back to December 2011.
Babar’s year with the bat
Babar Azam became the first-ever Pakistan batter to score 2500+ runs in a calendar year of cricket. He scored 1184 runs at an average of 69.6 in Tests, 679 runs at 84.9, 735 runs at 31.95, and a strike rate of 123.3 in T20Is. In total, he scored 2598 runs.
TESTs
England’s captivating approach
For the last six months, the biggest interest in Test cricket has been ‘Baz-ball’. Under Ben Stokes’s captaincy and Brendon McCullum’s mentorship, in all three series (excluding the India match) they have played, they have scored at a run rate of over four.
Throughout the year, England have scored at a run rate of 4.13, which is the best for any team. Adding further, they have hit 89 sixes this year, which is also the most by a team in a calendar year of Tests.
Chasing targets were England’s forte
In the first series under the mentorship of McCullum, England trounced New Zealand. In that series, they won all three matches chasing and in all three they chased 250+.
Then they added one more to their list when they chased 378, their highest Target in Tests. In a calendar year of Tests, the four wins by England while chasing 200+ is the most by a team. Previously, Pakistan in 2003, England in 2004, Australia in 2006, South Africa in 2008, and India in 2010, had chased 200+ thrice in a year.
India’s worst year for the top four
It hasn’t been a great year for the Indian top-four batters. Apart from Pujara, none of the other batters have averaged above 35. Overall, they have played nine different players and have averaged 29.1 in seven matches.
In this century, that is since 2000, this is the first time they have averaged less than 30. Adding on, only two centuries were hit, the lowest as well.
A flurry of fourth innings century
Fourth-innings batting was slightly easier this year as batters averaged 31.1 and hit 10 centuries. For the first time in a Test calendar year, there were 10 centuries scored in the fourth innings.
Out of those 10, four came from England batters and three from Pakistan. The four centuries by England is the most hit by a team in a calendar year of Tests in the fourth innings.
Pakistan’s worst year in Tests
The T20 WC 2022 finalists haven’t had the greatest of year in Tests, to be precise, a very poor year. In the nine Tests they have played this year, they have won only one. Adding salt to their wound, out of those nine, seven have been played at home and they have won a single match.
Throughout this year, they have maintained a win/loss ratio of 0.200, which is their worst in a year in which they have played five or more matches since 2000. Also, the year 2022 is the third year after 1969 & 1998, Pakistan have had zero wins in five or more home matches. Their four losses at home are also the most at home in a year.
ODIs AND LIST-A
England set the highest ODI Total and Tamil Nadu break the 500 barrier in List-A
In June, England missed the mark by just two runs as they scored 498/4 against the Netherlands in Amstelveen, the highest-ever List-A score then and the highest-ever ODI score to date.
However, in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy, Tamil Nadu breached the mark. They became the first team to score 500 in List-A when they scored 506/2 against Arunachal Pradesh.
Jagadeesan’s record-breaking year
In the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022/23, Narayan Jagadeesan of Tamil Nadu had a blast. He scored 830 runs in the season, the most by a batter in a single season of VHT.
He scored five consecutive centuries, which is also the most by a batter in List-A cricket. Kumar Sangakkara, Alviro Petersen, and Devdutt Padikkal, had hit four.
In his magnificent run, he also broke a 20-year-old record in List-A, when he scored 277 against Arunachal. This is now the highest List-A score.
Pakistan’s impeccable record in ODIs
The team in Green might have suffered their worst year in the whites, but they have had a great year in ODIs. The best one for a team.
In nine matches this year, they have won eight and have a win/loss ratio of 8.000. In a year in which teams have played five or more matches, their win/loss ratio is the best.
T20Is AND ALL T20s
Sydney Thunder’ nightmare evening
What happened in the fifth match of BBL-12 between Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers is still hard to digest. With Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, Jason Sangha, Alex Ross & Daniel Sams on their side, they were all out for just 15! Yes! This is the hard and unbelievable truth.
In all T20s, this is the lowest-ever total by any team. Turkey against the Czech Republic in 2019, was bowled out for 21, the lowest then. Also, the 35 balls faced by Thunder in this inning are the shortest completed innings for a team.
Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational year
The complete year belonged to one batter in T20Is and that batter was SKY. He might not have had the most runs for a batter in a calendar year, but his impact was sky-high.
He became the second batter after Muhammad Rizwan (1326) in 2021 to score 1000+ runs in a calendar year. Unlike Rizwan, SKY scored those runs at a strike rate of 187.4. His strike rate is the best for a batter who has scored 500+ runs in a calendar year.
Also Read: Suryakumar Yadav: SKY-high among his contemporaries
In addition, he became the first batter and the only batter to hit 50+ sixes in a single year of T20Is. In total, he hit 68 sixes this year.
Also, he had 11 scores of 50+, which is the second most for a batter. Only Rizwan in 2021, had more 50+ scores in a year (13).
In the year 2022, Suryakumar won seven “Player of the match” awards, which is the joint most for a player in a year.
Sikandar Raza’s amazing year with the bat and ball
It was a decent year for the Zimbabweans in the limited-over format. The series wins against Bangladesh in the T20Is and ODIs were the highlights. In all their wins, one player played a major role and that was Raza.
In T20Is this year, Raza scored 735 runs at an average of 35 and a strike rate of 150, and in most of his innings, he batted five or lower. To go with it, he had 25 wickets at an average of 17.7 and an economy of 6.1. He is the only player to have scored 500+ runs and picked up 25+ wickets in a year in T20Is.
Alongside Suryakumar, Raza also had seven “Player of the match” awards, the joint most.
India’s bowling exposed in 2022?
India had played the most matches in T20Is this year, to be precise, the most matches played by a team in any calendar year.
Their bowling was a questionable one. This year, they conceded six totals of 200+, the most for a Test-playing nation in a year.
Harshal Patel was the worst-hit bowler. In 21 innings, he had picked up 23 wickets but had conceded runs at an economy of 9.3. He also conceded 43 sixes, which is the most for a bowler in a calendar year. Overall, among Test-playing nation bowlers who had bowled 50+ overs in a year, only Odean Smith this year had a poorer economy (9.36).
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