COVID-19 and sports: A corona-curtailed Test cricket season

Tests, ODIs and T20I series left unfinished and T20 premier leagues, such as the Pakistan Super League, had to be cut short due to coronavirus.

Australia opener David Warner registered the highest Test score, 335*, of the 2019-20 season.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has affected sporting events across the world. Major sporting events have been cancelled midway or postponed. The most significant one that was due to take place in Japan this summer was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. International cricket has also not been spared. Several Test, One-Day International and Twenty20 International series being left unfinished and national T20 premier leagues, such as the Pakistan Super League, had to be cut short, while the major Indian Premier League 2020 has been postponed indefinitely. This means that Test cricket for the 2019-20 season is done with, hence, it is now the time to look at how the sides and the cricketers performed in the 25 Test matches played.

Test matches played during the 2019-20 season – a statistical survey

First Test: Visakhapatnam, October 2-6 – India beat South Africa by 203 runs

Last Test: Hagley Oval, Christchurch, February 29-March 2 – New Zealand beat India by seven wickets

Team results

Most wins

Team	Tests played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win percentage	Tosses won
Australia	5	5			100.00	3
India	7	5	2		71.43	3
England	6	3	2	1	50.00	6
New Zealand	7	3	3	1	42.86	3
Pakistan	5	2	2	1	40.00	3
West Indies	1	1			100.00	1
Bangladesh	4	1	3		25.00	2
Sri Lanka	4	1	1	2	25.00	1
South Africa	7	1	6		14.29
Afghanistan	1		1		0.00
Zimbabwe	3		2	1	0.00	3
Overall	25	22	22	3	88.00	25

 

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Highest team totals

Total	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
615/9d	New Zealand	England	Mount Maunaganui	Won
601/5d	India	South Africa	Pune	Won
589/3d	Australia	Pakistan	Adelaide	Won

 

Lowest team totals

Total	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
106/10	Bangladesh	India	Kolkata	Lost
120/10	Afghanistan	West Indies	Lucknow	Lost
124/10	India	New Zealand	Christchurch	Lost

 

Highest match aggregates

Total	Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Won by
1,447/31	India	South Africa	Visakhapatnam	India
1,229/33	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Karachi	Pakistan
1,165/29	England	New Zealand	Mount Maunaganui	New Zealand

 

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Lowest match aggregates (drawn Tests not considered)

Total	Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Won by
617/31	Afghanistan	West Indies	Lucknow	West Indies
648/28	Bangladesh	India	Kolkata	India
713/30	India	New Zealand	Wellington	New Zealand

 

Biggest victories by innings

Won by	Country	Opponent	Venue
Innings and 202 runs	India	South Africa	Ranchi
Innings and 137 runs	India	South Africa	Pune
Innings and 130 runs	India	Bangaldesh	Indore

 

The victorious Indian team after beating South Africa 3-0 in the Test series.

 

Biggest victories by runs

Won by	Country	Opponent	Venue
296 runs	Australia	New Zealand	Perth
279 runs	Australia	New Zealand	Sydney
263 runs	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Karachi

 

Biggest victories by wickets

Won by	Country	Opponent	Venue
10 wickets	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Harare
10 wickets	New Zealand	India	Wellington

 

Highest individual scores

Score	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
335*	David Warner	Australia	Pakistan	Adelaide	Won
254*	Virat Kohli	India	South Africa	Pune	Won
243	Mayank Agarwal	India	Bangladesh	Indore	Won
226	Joe Root	England	New Zealand	Hamilton	Drawn
215	Marnus Labuschagne	Australia	New Zealand	Sydney	Won

Note: Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne and Pakistan’s Babar Azam have hit the most 100s in this period – four!

Mayank Agarwal scored 243 against Bangladesh and a fighting 58 against New Zealand in Wellington.

 

Century in each innings

Scores	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
176 and 127	Rohit Sharma	India	South Africa	Visakhapatnam	Won

 

Century on debut

Score	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
109*	Abid Ali	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Rawalpindi	Drawn

 

Longest individual innings (in terms of minutes)

Minutes	Runs	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
667	205	B-J Watling	New Zealand	England	Mount Maunganui	Won
632	226	Joe Root	England	New Zealand	Hamilton	Drawn
595	200*	Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Harare	Won
554	335*	David Warner	Australia	Pakistan	Adelaide	Won
516	215	Marnus Labuschagne	Australia	New Zealand	Sydney	Won

 

Longest individual innings (in terms of balls faced)

Balls faced	Runs	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
473	205	B-J Watling	New Zealand	England	Mount Maunganui	Won
468	200*	Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Harare	Won
441	226	Joe Root	England	New Zealand	Hamilton	Drawn
418	335*	David Warner	Australia	Pakistan	Adelaide	Won
371	215	Mayank Agarwal	India	South Africa	Visakhapatnam	Won

 

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Fastest individual scores of 50-plus

Strike rate	Score	Balls	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
153.19	72	47	Ben Stokes	England	South Africa	Cape Town	Won
100.00	62	62	Brendan Taylor	Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka	Harare	Drawn
89.33	67	75	Brendan Taylor	Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka	Harare	Drawn
87.50	91	104	Ravindra Jadeja	India	South Africa	Pune	Won
85.53	65	76	Niroshan Dickwella	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Karachi	Lost

 

Slowest individual scores of 50-plus

Strike rate	Score	Balls	Batsman	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
28.65	55	192	B-J Watling	New Zealand	England	Hamilton	Drawn
29.17	84	288	Pieter Malan	South Africa	England	Cape Town	Lost
29.44	63	214	Kevin Kasuza	Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka	Harare	Lost
34.62	63	182	Steve Smith	Australia	New Zealand	Sydney	Won
34.72	50	144	Tom Latham	New Zealand	Australia	Melbourne	Lost

 

Leading run-getters

Runs	Batsman	Country	Matches	Innings	Highest score	Average	Hundreds/fifties
896	Marnus Labuschagne	Australia	5	8	215	112.00	4/3
786	David Warner	Australia	5	8	335*	131.00	3/0
699	Mayank Agarwal	India	7	10	243	69.90	3/1
615	Babar Azam	Pakistan	5	8	143	102.50	4/2
556	Rohit Sharma	India	5	6	212	92.66	3/0
556	Joe Root	England	6	10	226	55.60	1/3
536	Quinton de Kock	South Africa	7	14	111	38.28	1/4

 

Marnus Labuschagne.

 

Best bowling in an innings

Bowling figures	Bowler	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
7/75	Rahkeem Cornwall	West Indies	Afghanistan	Lucknow	Won
7/113	Sikandar Raza	Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka	Harare	Drawn
7/145	R. Ashwin	India	South Africa	Visakhapatnam	Won
6/66	Mitchell Starc	Australia	Pakistan	Adelaide	Won
5/22	Ishant Sharma	India	Bangladesh	Kolkata	Won

Note: Australia’s Nathan Lyon is the only bowler to claim three five-wicket hauls.

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Best bowling in a match

Bowling figures	Bowler	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
10/118	Nathan Lyon	Australia	New Zealand	Sydney	Won
10/121	Rahkeem Cornwall	West Indies	Afghanistan	Lucknow	Won
9/78	Ishant Sharma	India	Bangladesh	Kolkata	Won
9/97	Mitchell Starc	Australia	New Zealand	Perth	Won
9/100	Mark Wood	England	South Africa	Johannesburg	Won

 

Leading wicket-takers this season

Wickets	Bowler	Country	Matches	Innings	Best bowling	Average	Strike rate	5 wickets in an innings	10 wickets in a match
33	Tim Southee	New Zealand	6	11	5/61	22.15	46.15	2
32	Neil Wagner	New Zealand	6	11	5/44	21.62	49.25	2
29	Mitchell Starc	Australia	5	10	6/66	17.44	34.24	2
27	Nathan Lyon	Australia	5	10	5/50	21.96	44.74	3	1
27	Mohammed Shami	India	7	13	5/35	18.92	38.11	1
25	Umesh Yadav	India	5	10	5/53	16.20	28.96	1	1

 

Hat-tricks

Bowler	Bowling figures	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
Naseem Shah	4/26	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Rawalpindi	Won

 

Best all-round performance in a Test match

Player	Batting 1	Batting 2	Bowling 1	Bowling 2	Country	Opponent	Venue	Result
Sikandar Raza	72	34	7/113	1/63	Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka	Harare	Drawn
Keshav Maharaj		71	5/180	--	South Africa	England	Port Elizabeth	Lost

 

Best all-rounders this season

Runs	Wickets	Player	Country	Tests
309	15	Ravindra Jadeja	India	6
463	12	Ben Stokes	England	6
282	12	Colin de Grandhomme	New Zealand	6