Five cricket stats that could surprise you

Sport is a form of art which makes everyone go through the cycle of success and failure. In the journey, few records will be created. Cricket is a multi-faceted game, and the opportunities for players to create records is higher as compared with other sports.

Many great players have graced the game and have produced many brilliant performances.

Ireland's record of most successful 300+ run-chases in World Cup history is a classic example of how unpredictable cricket is and how records can be created and destroyed by anyone in this ever evolving sport. Not only teams have created such records, but also individual players have shown some brilliance which surprises everyone in the cricketing fraternity.

On that note, let's look into five such stats which will surprise you.

#1 Only player to defend six or less twice in the last over in ODIs - Sachin Tendulkar

The advent of T20 cricket has made batsmen confident of scoring at a run-rate of about 10 in the death overs. The 2019 World Cup final is proof of that. Bowlers find it difficult to contain the batsmen with shorter boundaries.

Batting teams are favoured to scramble through to victory with a boundary or two with even 10 or 12 runs to score and defending six or less in the final over is a rarity in ODIs.

But, it wasn't the case about two decades ago.

Even so, the fact that Sachin Tendulkar is the only bowler to defend six runs or less more than once in the final over is incredibly surprising.

The first time was the now-famous Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa in 1993 when he grabbed the ball from his captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, to win it for India. Bowling his first over of the match, Sachin bowled a half-volley. A set Brain McMillan drove it towards the point region and his partner Fanie de Villiers was run-out when they attempted for a second run. New to the crease, Allan Donald faced two dot balls, before taking a single off the fourth delivery. A boundary was required off the last ball, as the fifth ball was a dot. But the batsman could score only a single, and India won by two runs.

He repeated it in 1996 against Australia in the Titan Cup. They needed six runs to win with one wicket in hand. Brad Hogg was run-out in the first ball of the over to concede the match to India.

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#2 Sanath Jayasuriya has more ODI wickets than Shane Warne

Sanath Jayasuriya is remembered as an aggressive opening batsman who was a handy fifth bowler with his left-arm spin. But many have forgotten that in his initial years he was seen as a bowler who can bat.

The batting exploits of the southpaw was brutal that people underestimated the bowler in him. With the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas applying pressure, opponents attacked Jayasuriya to score runs.

Jayasuriya varied the pace and gave no room for the batsmen to free their arms. This helped him to put his name in the wickets column. He has delivered crucial breakthroughs in many matches with the 1996 World Cup semi-final at the top of that pile.

He surreptitiously took his wickets tally to 323 which is 30 more than the great Shane Warne. Warne's ODI career was surrounded by controversies which resulted in him playing fewer matches than he should have played actually. A one-year doping ban during the 2003 World Cup is a notable one.

Although Sanath has played 250 more matches than Warne, it is a surprise to see the leg-spinner lagging behind the Sri Lankan.

#3 Wasim Akram's highest Test score is more than Sachin, Ponting, and Kallis

Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis - three players who have scored most runs in Tests than any other player in the history of the game. Their consistency and longevity are the factors that put them at the top of the greatest batsmen the game has seen.

They are part of an elite group which has succeeded against every opposition in all conditions. All three of them have played many brilliant knocks which guided their team to Test victories. But one thing that these three have failed to achieve is breaching the 300-mark in an innings.

Their highest Test score, Kallis (224), Sachin (248*), and Ponting (257), is lesser than Wasim Akram's highest Test score (257*).

Not only they occupy the top three spots in the all-time run-getters list but also the list of most Tests centuries. Tendulkar scored six double centuries, but none was above 250.

Only two of Kallis' 45 centuries were above 200. Ponting scored six double hundreds with a high score of 257 against India.

#4 Chris Scott is the only groundsman to be awarded a man of the match

The Man of the Match award is given to recognize the best performance of the game. Batsmen and Bowlers are the usual suspects for the award. Game-changing fielding performances have also helped players get that man of the match award.

In a few occasions, the award has been presented to multiple players and teams as well. But in December 2000 when South Africa took on New Zealand, Chris Scott, the head groundsman of the Wanderers stadium was awarded the man of the match.

Heavy rains resulted in no play on the first day and with the damage, it had caused, play for day 2 seemed impossible. Due to the extraordinary efforts of the groundsmen, an entire day of play happened with 99 overs. Persistent rains resulted in the calling off day 3 & 4.

Despite knowing that a result was impossible, Scott and his team worked tirelessly to make the ground fit for play on day 5. To appreciate the magnificent effort, the match officials decided to award the man of the match to Chris Scott.

#5 Sachin has more 5-wicket hauls than Warne in ODI's

The biggest strength of Shane Warne was his ability to make things happen out of nowhere. Warne had a fantastic career in Tests with 708 wickets.

More than sixty per cent of his Test career was in Australia and England where he picked up 448 wickets. But ODI career was short when compared with the five-day format.

While he was mighty effective with the white ball, the leggie has only one 5-wicket haul in ODIs. It was against West Indies in 1996.

On the other hand Sachin Tendulkar has two 5-wicket hauls under his belt.

Sachin was more than a handy leg-spinner and has had a few memorable spells. His 5-wicket haul came against Australia at Kochi in 1998. Australians were cruising in their chase of 310 when Sachin came on to bowl. From 203/3 he reduced them to 259/9. His scalps included the likes of Steve Waugh, Micheal Bevan, and Damien Martyn.

Interestingly, his second five-wicket haul was at the same venue against Pakistan in 2005. His spell derailed the Pakistan innings as India won the match by 87 runs. With this stat, Sachin would pull his friend's leg over his domination with the ball as well.