On the back of another century from David Warner, Australia whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 and took back the Chappell-Hadlee series, which they had lost earlier in the year. In the third ODI, the hosts managed to defend 265 comfortably as Mitchell Starc proved too hot to handle at the MCG.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Australia lost both Aaron Finch and Steve Smith early, but Warner ensured that they didn't miss either batsman too much. Tempering his usual aggression for some patience, Warner brought up another 150 and was only dismissed off the last ball of the innings, helping the hosts get to 264/8.
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In response, New Zealand needed either Martin Guptill or Kane Williamson to score big, but neither managed that and as a result, they were struggling in pursuit of a modest total on a pitch that only offered a hint of assistance to the bowlers. In the end, they could only manage 147 and ended up losing the game by 117 runs.
Here are some interesting numbers from the final ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee series:
0 – Never before have Australia had a bigger difference between the top score and the second-best score in an innings when they have batted first than in the third ODI. 119 was the difference between the highest score (Warner with 156) and the second-best score in Australia’s innings (Travis Head with 37). The previous-biggest difference was 117 which took place during the 2007 World Cup.
1 – David Warner became the first Australian batsman to score two consecutive ODI centuries on two separate occasions.
2 – No Australian batsman apart from David Warner has more than two 150+ scores in ODIs. Four players are joint-second with two such scores while Warner has 4.
3 – Only three batsmen have scored more than David Warner’s 156 in an ODI at the MCG. Mark Waugh leads the list with 173 while Shane Watson and Tillakaratne Dilshan both scored an unbeaten 161.
4 – In the list of most 150+ scores in ODIs, David Warner joined Sanath Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma in second place with four such scores. Sachin leads the list with 5.
5 – Warner became the 5th batsman after Desmond Haynes, Dean Jones, Mohammad Yousuf and Kumar Sangakkara to outscore New Zealand (Warner got 156 to New Zealand's 147) in ODIs.
6 – This was David Warner’s sixth 150+ score in List-A matches, which is the most for any player along with Gordon Greenidge. Four have come for Australia while two came for New South Wales. Sachin is second on this all-time list with 5.
7 – Warner has scored 7 ODI centuries in 2016, which is more than everyone else in the history of cricket, barring one player, Sachin Tendulkar, who managed nine centuries in 1998.
9 – Only one player, Sachin Tendulkar (10), has more 90+ scores in a calendar year in ODIs. David managed his ninth such score in the third ODI and overtook Kane Williamson who had eight last year to second on this list.
59.09 – Warner’s 156 was 59.09 percentage of runs scored by Australia. That is the second-highest percentage of runs in an innings for Australia, behind only Damien Martyn who scored 60.73 % of runs against New Zealand in 2000.
156 – After breaking the record for the highest ODI score to end with a run-out earlier in the year against South Africa when he scored 173, Warner equalled the previous-record and took second place by being dismissed for 156 by a run-out, same as Hamilton Masakadza.
264 – Australia’s score of 264 against New Zealand is the second-lowest team total to include a 150+ score. The lowest belongs to India who only scored 261 despite Sourav Ganguly’s 153.
1388 – David Warner has scored 1,388 runs in 23 ODIs in 2016, which is the fourth-best tally by an Australian in a calendar year. He has scored those runs at an average of 63.09 and strike rate of 105.47 with seven centuries and four fifties.
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