Statistics Review: West Indies vs Australia 2008

Statistics review

Despite spirited resistance from West Indies throughout the three-Test series,

relentless Australia defeat the one-man army of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and

ultimately wrapped up the series with a 2-0 result.

Their 87-run win in Barbados gave them their 50th Test victory against West

Indies, and their sixth win in the last seven series between the two teams. It

also improved Australia's overseas win-loss record to 28-8 since 2000; since the

2005 Ashes in England, they have won seven out of eight Tests abroad.

For West Indies, meanwhile, it was hardly the washout that some might have

feared before the series began. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was a colossus

throughout, finishing with an aggregate of 442, 119 more than Ricky Ponting,

Australia's highest run-getter.

He also faced 1000 balls in the series, becoming only the third West Indian, after

Brian Lara (against Sri Lanka in 2001-02) and Jimmy Adams (against India in

1994-95) to play 1000 or more deliveries in a three-Test series.

The West Indies also put up an impressive fight on the last day in Barbados

when chasing an improbable 475: the 387 they ended up with is the highest

fourth-innings score in 44 Tests at the Kensington Oval.

Since 1990, only six times have teams scored more than that in the last innings.

It continued a surprising recent trend for West Indies,  in the last year and a

half, their batting performance in the fourth innings has been much better than in

the first three.

Though West Indies put up a fair show, the difference between the two sides

was pretty significant, Australia scoring ten runs more per wicket, and faced 16

more deliveries per dismissal.

The partnership stats for each team indicates one of the biggest differences

between the two teams - lower-order batting. Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan

and Xavier Marshall were superb with the bat, but the rest were far too patchy.

West Indies also tended to crumble once they lost half their side - the total runs

scored, on an average, by the last five wickets was a paltry 72.60, with just one

half-century stand.

Denesh Ramdin was one of the prominent lower-order failures, managing a mere

66 runs in six innings. Australia, on the other hand, had seven fifty-plus stands

for the last five wickets, which added almost 169 to the total. Andrew Symonds,

Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin had crucial hands in ensuring that the lower

order did not crumble after half the team had been dismissed. The one

disappointment was Michael Hussey, who had the worst series of his Test

career.

Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo were the most prolific pair in the series, putting

together 393 runs at 65.50. The next two slots belonged to Australians, though,

with Simon Katich figuring in both, in partnership with Phil Jaques and Ponting.

West Indies' batting revolved around Chanderpaul, who scored a quarter of his

team's runs; Australia's top run-getter, Ponting, only scored 16% of his side's

runs. Sarwan was the only other West Indian who topped 200 in the series,

while the Australian line-up had four batsmen who went past 200, and six who

averaged more than 40.

Australia also handily won the battle of the fast bowlers. Stuart Clark and Brett

Lee were outstanding, while Mitchell Johnson managed ten wickets as well. Fidel

Edwards was superb for West Indies, with 15 wickets at 25, but Daren Powell

was a huge disappointment, taking just six wickets at 61 apiece.

Player v player

Chanderpaul was one West Indian batsman who conquered both Lee and Clark,

Australia's two best bowlers in the series. Sarwan didn't fall to Lee even once,

but Clark clearly had the better of him, dismissing him thrice at the cost of 56

runs.

Despite bowling some fiery spells to the West Indian top order, Lee came off

second-best against them, conceding 183 to Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Xavier

Marshall - their three best batsmen - for just one wicket.

Against Bravo he had far more success, though - three wickets at the cost of only

36 runs. Edwards was superb against Australia's top-order left-hand batsmen,

but failed to replicate those numbers against the right-hand batsmen. Bravo

enjoyed his battles against Stuart MacGill and Beau Casson, but came a cropper

against the pace of Lee, Clark and Johnson.

(S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo)