The Friday Column

Australia's finals spree, and Pietersen the Plunderer

S Rajesh

February 4, 2005

Perhaps numbers never do reveal the full story, but they tell a large part of it. Every Friday, The Numbers Game will take a look at statistics from the present and the past, busting myths and revealing hidden truths:

Awesome Australia
Pakistan may have managed to put one across the Australians in the last of their three encounters in the VB Series, but Inzamam-ul-Haq will be under no illusions about the humungous task in front of his team when the two sides clash in the best-of-three finals: Australia have lost only one of their last 17 final matches, and their winning streak hasn't been broken since August 1999.

Australia have a habit of swamping most teams anyway, but even they manage to step it up a notch and find an extra gear when silverware is at stake. If India are the perennial chokers in finals - they have won precisely one of their last 17 - then Australia are the masters of the game.

What's even more frightening is the manner in which they demolish their finalist challengers. Generally, you'd expect the finals to be the toughest match for any team - the opponent would, at least most of the time, be a high-quality side itself, which wouldn't just roll over and die like some minnows might in earlier rounds. However, like Roger Federer did on the tennis circuit throughout 2004, Australia have simply decimated their final hurdle in the most convincing manner possible. The table below shows exactly how one-sided the deciders have been - the average winning margin has been 89 runs or eight wickets, a significant improvement from the 70 runs or six wickets in non-knockout one-dayers.

The last time a side conquered the Australians in a final was more than five years back, on a sluggish surface in Colombo. The Sri Lankans have used the slow-pitch, slow-bowler strategy on more than one occasion to get the better of the Australians, and here they employed that tactic magnificently again. Russel Arnold opened the bowling for the Lankans, the spinners sent down 35 of the 50 overs, took six out of nine wickets which fell to bowlers, and restricted the Australians to 202. The target was achieved with ridiculous ease, with eight wickets and 10.3 overs remaining. (To see Australia's record in tournament finals since 1999, click here.)

There's little Inzamam can learn from that game, though, for the conditions at Melbourne and even Sydney won't resemble Colombo. And here are more numbers to deflate Pakistani supporters - the last time a team beat Australia to win a best-of-three finals was in 1992-93, in the days when the triangular tournament used to be called the Benson and Hedges World Series. West Indies conquered them in comprehensive fashion, winning 2-0, but since then, Australia have only lost two matches, both to South Africa, and on both occasions, they came back to win the last two games after losing the first to clinch the cup. Since then, Australia have reached the finals five times in six editions, and each of those five finals have been 2-0 washouts. Can Pakistan stop the trend? (Click here for Australia's record in home finals.)

Pietersen's smashing start
There was plenty of hype surrounding Kevin Pietersen's debut in international cricket, and so far in his brief performance on the big stage, he has lived up to every bit of it. His first half-century came in only his second game, and then, in his sixth, he slammed a coruscating 108 off just 96 balls, braving the South African attack and a less-than-endearing crowd. Pietersen's ODI record after six games is a daunting one - an average of 234, and a strike rate of 92.5. Even better, the only way to get him out, it would seem, is to nail him on nought - once he gets off the mark, he doesn't get out.

Pietersen's start in ODIs - in terms of averages at least - is the best by any batsman. His average - aided, admittedly, by not-outs - is well clear of Michael Clarke, the only other batsman with a 100-plus average after five games. The player who currently leads the way after ten matches is also a player of South African origin who ended up playing for England. The way Pietersen's going, Allan Lamb might soon have to shift to second place.

S Rajesh is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

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