Women's World Cup: What the numbers say

The number of consecutive 50-plus scores posted by Mithali Raj in ODIs is seven — the most by any batter in women’s cricket.

Mithali Raj... seven successive 50-plus scores in ODIs — a record in women’s cricket.

69  The percentage of runs scored by Chamari Atapattu (178 not out) in Sri Lanka’s total (257 for nine; 50 overs) in a group match against Australia. This is the highest percentage of team runs scored by a single player in a completed innings in women’s ODI cricket.

Australia, incidentally, chased down the target with eight wickets in hand and more than six overs to spare.

678  Aggregate runs scored during the group match between England and South Africa. England, batting first, scored 373 and South Africa put up a strong reply during its chase, scoring 305 runs. This beat the previous highest aggregate in women’s ODI cricket (577 in a match between Australia and New Zealand in 2012) by 101 runs.

7  The number of consecutive 50-plus scores posted by Mithali Raj in ODIs — the most by any batter in women’s cricket. The next best is six, held jointly by Lindsay Reeler and Ellyse Perry (both Australia) and Charlotte Edwards (England). Mithali achieved the feat when she scored 71 runs against England during India’s first match of the 2017 World Cup. She almost extended her run to eight matches, but was dismissed for 46 in the next game against West Indies.

24  The number of years since England had beaten Australia in a World Cup match, before their narrow three-run win in the current World Cup.

England’s previous win against Australia in a World Cup came in 1993 (in Guildford). It has, since then, lost five World Cup matches to Australia. This is surprising though, since England has been the team that has threatened Australia’s dominance the most in women’s ODI cricket, with a win percentage of 31 (21 wins from 72 ODIs), which is better than any other team.

10:0  India’s win-loss record against Pakistan in women’s ODI cricket after it beat Pakistan in the current World Cup. India has lost at least one ODI against every other major team other than Bangladesh, against whom it enjoys a 4-0 record. India also has a strong 7-2 record against Pakistan in T20Is. India has never played against Pakistan in Test cricket.

2  The number of 150-plus scores during the group match between Australia and Sri Lanka. While Chamari Atapattu scored 178 not out to help Sri Lanka post 257, Australia’s Meg Lanning responded with a knock of 152 not out to take Australia to an easy win. This is the first time that two batters have made 150-plus scores in a women’s ODI.

275  The number of runs that Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Taylor of England strung together for the second wicket in the group match against South Africa. This is the highest partnership for any wicket in women’s World Cup and the second-highest in the history of women’s ODI cricket.

Q&A In the recent five-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka were involved in a 200-plus runs partnerships in back-to-back matches (the third and fourth ODIs). Have any other pairs previously achieved this feat? — Ajit Krishnan, Chennai, Tamil Nadu Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka are the 15th pair to be involved in two or more 200-plus runs partnerships. However, they are the first pair to achieve this in back-to-back ODIs that their country has played. In 2015, Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw had two 200-plus stands in a five-match ODI series against West Indies, but that came in the second and fifth ODIs. In 1999, Rahul Dravid had posted two 200-plus stands with Sachin Tendulkar and two with Sourav Ganguly. That year, Dravid even managed back-to-back 200-plus partnerships for India during the 1999 World Cup, but one of them was with Sachin Tendulkar (versus Kenya) and the other was with Sourav Ganguly (versus Sri Lanka). In the 2017 women’s World Cup match between West Indies and South Africa, Dane van Niekerk (South Africa’s captain) returned figures of 4 for 0. What is the most number of wickets taken by a bowler in an innings without conceding a single run in men’s cricket? — Ajit Krishnan, Chennai, Tamil Nadu This is a rare instance of two questions coming from the same reader being published in these columns, but it had to be done because Ajit had a couple of very interesting questions this week. No bowler in men’s cricket has taken four (or more) wickets without conceding a single run, though Courtney Walsh came quite close when he had figures of 5 for 1 against Sri Lanka in an ODI in Sharjah in 1986. The best ever figures by a bowler not conceding a single run in men’s Test cricket is 3 for 0, by Richie Benaud, against India in Delhi in 1959. Australia’s Andy Bichel (ODI v Namibia, 2003) and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner (ODI v Australia, 2016) have returned figures of 2 for 0. No other bowler has ever taken more than one wicket without conceding a run. Evin Lewis scored a century in the only T20I during India’s recent tour of West Indies. This was his second T20I century against India. Has any other batsman scored two T20I centuries against a single opposition? — Suvojit Halder, Kolkata, West Bengal Only three batsmen have scored two centuries in T20Is — Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum. Gayle’s centuries came against Australia and Bangladesh, while McCullum’s hundreds came against South Africa and England, which makes Lewis the first batsman to score two T20I hundreds against a single opposition. Batsmen from West Indies and New Zealand jointly hold the record for scoring the most T20 centuries (four each), while Bangladesh and South Africa have conceded the most centuries (also four each). India has conceded three centuries, with Shane Watson (Sydney, 2016) being the only other batsman apart from Lewis to score a T20I century against India. Readers may send in their queries to numbernut@thehindu.co.in or bishen.numbernut@gmail.com