India v Pakistan, World Cup 2015: 10 most important stats of the day
Here is a list of 10 of the most notable stats from India’s win against Pakistan in the World Cup Pool A match at Adelaide today.
1. Virat Kohli became the first Indian batsman to score a century in a World Cup (WC) match against Pakistan. He went past Sachin Tendulkar’s 98 in the 2003 WC group stage match at Centurion to become the highest run-scorer in the WC fixtures between both the teams. Former Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar is the only other batsman to have scored a century in a WC clash between these two teams: 101 off 126 balls in 2003.
2. Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled 3 maidens in the match today. The last time an Indian spinner bowled 3 or more maidens in a WC match was Srinivas Venkataraghavan in 1979. Playing against West Indies in Birmingham, Venkataraghavan ended up with figures of 12-3-30-0.
3. India have played Pakistan 6 times in World Cup history – 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015, and they have emerged victorious on all the 6 occasions. Except 2003, India batted first in the remaining editions after winning the toss. The only time Pakistan won the toss was in 2003; they opted to bat first and still lost.
4. Kohli, who played his 151st ODI today, is now the fastest to 22 ODI centuries, beating Sachin Tendulkar – who achieved the feat in 213 ODIs – by a mile. He is now the joint fourth in the list of leading centurions in ODIs, with Sourav Ganguly. Tendulkar, Ponting and Jayasuriya occupy the first three spots with 49, 30 and 28 centuries respectively.
5. Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan picked up 5 wickets for 55 runs today. He is the first bowler from his country to take a five-for in his debut WC match.
6. MS Dhoni now has 14005 runs in international cricket. He is only the third wicket-keeper behind Kumar Sangakkara (17338) and Adam Gilchrist (15252) to have crossed the landmark.
7. Head-to-Head stats: In ODIs, Pakistan have won 72 matches overall, while India, with their win today, are on 51.
8. This is the third time Pakistan have conceded 300 or more runs in a World Cup match. In 2003, Australia took them for a ride scoring 310/8 at Johannesburg, which was followed by a Ross Taylor-inspired 302/7 at Pallekele in 2011.
9. India have played 10 World Cup matches against Pakistan, including T20Is, and they have won all of them. It is 10-0. This is some serious record!
10. Shahid Afridi has played 5 World Cups so far but doesn’t have a single half-century. Kohli, on the other hand, has scored a century in India’s opening matches in both World Cup 2011 and World Cup 2015.
Note: Inputs taken from Twitter account Cricket Record, statistician Bharat Seervi and ESPNCricinfo.