The right men for large run-chases

No team has successfully chased a total of 275 or more, in five attempts, during the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy. Graeme Smith scored 141 while pursuing England's 323 but contributions from the other batsmen were meagre; Sachin Tendulkar's early dismissal hurt India's shot at overhauling Pakistan's 302; the Sri Lankan engine ran out of steam after New Zealand scored 315; South Africa were thwarted by Ajantha Mendis chasing 319; and West Indies were always going to struggle after Australia posted 275. So this week we've looked at batsmen who make a difference (or don't) in such chases, batsmen with averages significantly higher (and lower) than their career mean while chasing totals greater than 275.

Out of the 20 players in the table below, several - like Adam Parore, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Rashid Latif - have unexceptional averages while chasing scores above 275. However, they appear in the list because their average in large chases is much higher than their overall career average. Dilshan, for instance, averages 31 in ODIs but his mean rises by nine runs when Sri Lanka are chasing more than 275.

There are five players, though - Gary Kirsten, Kevin Pietersen, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Matthew Hayden and MS Dhoni - who have career averages over 40 but raise it to 50 and beyond when their team is faced with a tough chase. Dhoni's 55.76 - seven fifties and one century in 22 innings - is the best of the lot and he has scored 948 runs at a strike-rate of 94.80 in such chases. His overall second-innings average is 53.76, an indicator that his transition from cavalier hitter to urgent accumulator has paid dividends.

Pietersen, on the other hand, averages marginally less in the second innings of ODIs - 1359 runs in 39 innings at 45.30 - than he does overall: his career average is 46.67. However, his average lifts to nearly 55 when England are chasing more than 275. He has scored two centuries and three fifties in 10 such innings but only one of them - the 100 against West Indies in Barbados during the 2007 World Cup - resulted in an England win.

Best difference in batting average when chasing 275+ (qualification: 10 innings)

Player	Span	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50		Career	Diff
Alok Kapali (Ban)	2002-2008	10	2	305	89*	38.12	76.63	0	2		19.83	18.29
HDPK Dharmasena (SL)	1994-2004	11	6	273	69*	39.00	81.98	0	3		22.62	16.37
N Kapil Dev (India)	1978-1994	11	3	314	52	39.25	92.08	0	1		23.79	15.45
AC Parore (NZ)	1992-2002	16	2	526	108	37.57	81.67	1	3		25.68	11.88
G Kirsten (SA)	1993-2003	11	1	520	133*	52.00	75.14	2	3		40.95	11.04
ME Waugh (Aus)	1988-2002	14	1	633	113	48.69	88.53	3	2		39.35	9.34
BB McCullum (NZ)	2002-2009	19	5	564	86*	37.60	90.24	0	4		28.38	9.21
A Jadeja (India)	1992-2000	19	2	792	119	46.58	81.56	2	5		37.47	9.11
TM Dilshan (SL)	1999-2009	10	4	321	81*	40.12	107.00	0	1		31.38	8.73
V Sibanda (Afr/Zim)	2003-2009	12	0	366	59	30.50	69.05	0	3		22.06	8.43
KP Pietersen (Eng/ICC)	2004-2009	10	1	494	100*	54.88	101.43	2	3		46.67	8.21
SR Waugh (Aus)	1986-2002	19	2	698	91	41.05	86.49	0	5		32.90	8.15
RR Sarwan (WI)	2000-2009	23	3	1021	92	51.05	83.41	0	10		43.04	8.00
Tamim Iqbal (Ban)	2007-2009	10	0	363	154	36.30	92.83	1	1		28.34	7.95
HH Streak (Afr/Zim)	1993-2005	26	12	574	64*	35.87	83.18	0	3		28.29	7.57
Rashid Latif (Pak)	1992-2003	10	3	213	50	26.62	85.54	0	1		19.42	7.20
ML Hayden (Aus/ICC)	1993-2008	10	0	510	109	51.00	88.85	1	3		43.80	7.19
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	2001-2007	10	7	110	46	18.33	73.33	0	0		11.62	6.70
Aaqib Javed (Pak)	1988-1998	11	5	101	45*	16.83	70.62	0	0		10.68	6.15
MS Dhoni (Asia/India)	2004-2009	22	7	948	183*	55.76	94.80	1	7		49.67	6.09

Damien Martyn is among the batsmen (the majority) who average higher in the first innings of ODIs than in the second (43.57 compared to 35.87), but his second-innings average plummets drastically when Australia have been set a large target. Martyn went out to bat 13 times when Australia needed 275 or more to win and averaged 11.61 in those innings, never making more than 40. He leads the table of batsmen whose averages are remarkably lower than their career means while chasing a large total.

Scrolling down the list of relatively poor averages while chasing large scores, you'll see 45.91 on the list. Now that's an excellent average to possess even over an entire career, never mind while chasing 275-plus scores, but it begins to make sense when you see that it belongs to Michael Bevan, who averaged 53.58 overall.

Worst difference in batting average when chasing 275+ (qualification: 10 innings)

Player	Span	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50		Career	Diff
DR Martyn (Aus)	1992-2006	13	1	151	40	11.61	67.11	0	0		40.80	-29.19
Mohammad Yousuf (Asia/Pak)	1998-2009	32	1	856	92	26.75	79.40	0	6		42.94	-16.19
Saeed Anwar (Pak)	1989-2003	21	0	486	62	23.14	90.84	0	2		39.21	-16.07
HH Dippenaar (Afr/SA)	1999-2007	13	2	342	110*	28.50	79.53	1	1		42.23	-13.73
PD Collingwood (Eng)	2001-2009	14	1	322	93	23.00	82.77	0	2		35.09	-12.09
MS Atapattu (SL)	1990-2007	32	1	817	100	26.35	70.37	1	2		37.57	-11.21
SC Ganguly (Asia/India)	1992-2007	41	1	1242	124	30.29	82.25	1	8		41.02	-10.72
AP Gurusinha (SL)	1985-1996	12	1	216	52	18.00	60.16	0	1		28.27	-10.27
MJ Clarke (Aus)	2003-2009	12	0	399	80	33.25	77.47	0	4		42.62	-9.37
V Sehwag (Asia/ICC/India)	1999-2009	31	0	783	119	25.25	100.77	1	1		34.33	-9.07
Kamran Akmal (Pak)	2002-2009	15	2	250	41	17.85	94.33	0	0		26.29	-8.43
SP Fleming (ICC/NZ)	1994-2007	28	0	675	88	24.10	80.45	0	5		32.40	-8.30
VVS Laxman (India)	1998-2006	12	0	271	66	22.58	77.65	0	1		30.76	-8.17
AB de Villiers (Afr/SA)	2005-2009	11	0	348	92	31.63	97.20	0	2		39.60	-7.96
RD Shah (Kenya)	1998-2007	10	0	200	71	20.00	56.49	0	1		27.88	-7.88
DJ Bravo (WI)	2004-2009	17	4	228	33*	16.28	86.69	0	0		23.98	-7.69
MG Bevan (Aus)	1994-2004	16	5	551	103	45.91	84.63	1	2		53.58	-7.66
L Klusener (SA)	1996-2004	12	3	301	57	33.44	96.16	0	1		41.10	-7.65
Khaled Mashud (Ban)	1995-2006	23	8	231	53*	14.43	58.04	0	1		21.90	-7.46
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2009	47	0	1764	141	37.53	91.73	2	13		44.48	-6.94

How has Sachin Tendulkar fared when India's had to chase scores in excess of 275? He was dismissed for 8 in the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in Centurion, and averages 37.53, nearly seven runs less than his career average, in such chases.

The table below contains bowlers who have a better economy-rate (compared to career economy-rate) while defending totals less than 200 in ODIs. Tendulkar has a surprisingly low economy-rate when he has bowled after India posted less than 200. He has conceded only 3.92 per over in those matches, compared to 5.09 overall.

If Australia having to chase 275-plus totals only 13 times during Martyn's 208-ODI career is a testament to how effective their bowling was during that period, then the Australian batsmen ensured that the bowling unit had to defend sub-200 totals only 12 times in Glenn McGrath's 250-match career. And McGrath was exceptional in those games, lowering his economy-rate from 3.88 to 2.94 per over.

Best difference in economy-rate when defending less than 200 (qualification: 500 balls)

Player	Span	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	4	5		Career	Diff
BKV Prasad (India)	1994-2001	12	606	335	16	3/22	20.93	3.31	0	0		4.67	-1.35
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2009	38	530	347	7	2/25	49.57	3.92	0	0		5.09	-1.16
JE Emburey (Eng)	1980-1993	10	540	265	8	3/26	33.12	2.94	0	0		4.10	-1.16
S Madan Lal (India)	1974-1987	12	512	262	9	3/31	29.11	3.07	0	0		4.05	-0.98
RJ Shastri (India)	1981-1992	27	1292	698	17	3/37	41.05	3.24	0	0		4.21	-0.97
Shahid Afridi (Asia/ICC/Pak)	1996-2009	29	784	481	20	3/16	24.05	3.68	0	0		4.62	-0.94
GD McGrath (Aus/ICC)	1993-2007	12	586	288	13	3/25	22.15	2.94	0	0		3.88	-0.93
SR Waugh (Aus)	1986-2002	26	855	520	16	3/16	32.50	3.64	0	0		4.56	-0.91
CPH Ramanayake (SL)	1986-1995	13	591	336	13	4/17	25.84	3.41	1	0		4.29	-0.88
EJ Chatfield (NZ)	1979-1989	25	1225	553	24	4/20	23.04	2.70	1	0		3.57	-0.87
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2007	15	690	485	15	3/26	32.33	4.21	0	0		5.07	-0.85
A Kumble (Asia/India)	1990-2007	25	1152	665	19	4/12	35.00	3.46	1	0		4.30	-0.84
CL Cairns (ICC/NZ)	1991-2006	30	1014	680	23	4/40	29.56	4.02	1	0		4.84	-0.82
SK Warne (Aus/ICC)	1993-2005	10	528	303	13	3/29	23.30	3.44	0	0		4.25	-0.80
Waqar Younis (Pak)	1989-2003	47	2034	1318	60	6/30	21.96	3.88	0	1		4.68	-0.79
EA Brandes (Zim)	1987-1999	13	555	374	10	4/21	37.40	4.04	1	0		4.80	-0.76
Aamer Sohail (Pak)	1990-2000	26	590	377	9	2/21	41.88	3.83	0	0		4.59	-0.76
GRJ Matthews (Aus)	1984-1993	12	529	311	13	3/27	23.92	3.52	0	0		4.28	-0.75
W Watson (NZ)	1986-1994	11	550	311	12	2/26	25.91	3.39	0	0		4.14	-0.75
CJ McDermott (Aus)	1985-1996	18	904	499	21	3/23	23.76	3.31	0	0		4.03	-0.72

Waqar Younis, on the other hand, had to defend totals of 200 or worse 47 times in his 262-ODI career. He rose to the challenge as well, reducing his economy-rate by 0.80, to 3.90 per over, and his average from nearly 24 per wicket to 22.

Worst difference in economy-rate when defending less than 200 (qualification: 500 balls)

Player	Span	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	4	5		Career	Diff
RGD Willis (Eng)	1973-1984	11	550	356	11	2/14	32.36	3.88	0	0		3.28	0.59
Azhar Mahmood (Pak)	1996-2007	19	570	480	5	1/19	96.00	5.05	0	0		4.62	0.42
PA Strang (Zim)	1994-2001	14	585	451	12	4/40	37.58	4.62	1	0		4.37	0.25
PJ Ongondo (Afr/Kenya)	1999-2009	17	545	417	13	4/14	32.07	4.59	1	0		4.46	0.12
MD Marshall (WI)	1980-1992	15	777	474	14	3/28	33.85	3.66	0	0		3.53	0.12
Abdul Razzaq (Asia/Pak)	1996-2009	33	1232	984	36	5/31	27.33	4.79	2	1		4.68	0.10
MA Suji (Kenya)	1996-2006	17	678	514	12	3/23	42.83	4.54	0	0		4.45	0.09
DK Morrison (NZ)	1987-1996	20	900	693	22	5/34	31.50	4.62	0	1		4.53	0.08
JG Bracewell (NZ)	1983-1990	16	620	482	9	2/23	53.55	4.66	0	0		4.61	0.04
Aaqib Javed (Pak)	1988-1998	24	1010	717	17	3/27	42.17	4.25	0	0		4.28	-0.02
BL Cairns (NZ)	1974-1985	16	679	448	9	2/30	49.77	3.95	0	0		4.06	-0.10
Mohammad Rafique (Asia/Ban)	1995-2007	35	1278	919	17	2/10	54.05	4.31	0	0		4.43	-0.11
Tapash Baisya (Ban)	2002-2007	18	695	638	9	2/35	70.88	5.50	0	0		5.64	-0.13
RM Hogg (Aus)	1979-1985	13	630	400	12	4/46	33.33	3.80	1	0		3.94	-0.13
JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA)	1996-2009	26	708	553	15	3/40	36.86	4.68	0	0		4.82	-0.13
GR Larsen (NZ)	1990-1999	22	970	586	10	3/20	58.60	3.62	0	0		3.76	-0.14
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL)	1989-2009	38	963	739	17	4/14	43.47	4.60	2	0		4.76	-0.15
RJ Hadlee (NZ)	1973-1990	24	1224	640	25	4/15	25.60	3.13	1	0		3.30	-0.16
RA Harper (WI)	1983-1996	12	534	338	11	2/34	30.72	3.79	0	0		3.97	-0.18
MC Snedden (NZ)	1980-1990	20	787	539	15	3/40	35.93	4.10	0	0		4.29	-0.18