THE WEEK IN NUMBERS: Pollard's 500, Tamim's tons and a packed MCG

It's a numbers game! Here The Cricketer takes a look back at some of the stats to come out of the world of cricket this week...

5

The Australian juggernaut made it five of the best as Meg Lanning & Co. won the Women’s T20 World Cup for the fifth time in the tournament’s history.

86,174

The final saw the record crowd to watch a women's cricket match. The 86,174 in attendance at the MCG on Sunday surpassed the 1997 World Cup final in Kolkata and was the most to watch a female sports event in Australia.

176

On Tuesday Tamim Iqbal - who has been named as Bangladesh’s new ODI captain - broke his own record (154) ODI score for the country, hitting 158 against Zimbabwe at Sylhet.

Three days later, Liton Das blasted 176 off 143 on the same ground  to take the title for his own. Five of Bangladesh’s highest ODI scores have been registered by the new skipper.

292

The pair combined for 292 runs in the third ODI of the series, eclipsing the record 220 Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar put on against Zimbabwe at Chattogram in 2018. Tamim made it back-to-back centuries, following his 158 with an unbeaten 128 from 109 deliveries.

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129*

Janneman Malan’s ODI career got off to the worst possible start on Saturday when he was trapped lbw first ball by Mitchell Starc in the hosts’ 74-run win over Australia at Paarl. The opener, who has joined Leicestershire as an overseas player for the 2020 season, bounced back in style at Bloemfontein, hitting his maiden ODI hundred - an unbeaten 129 - as South Africa claimed a six-wicket victory and 2-0 series lead.

123*

Malan’s century followed another maiden ODI hundred as Heinrich Klaasen registered his first three-figure score in the format in his 16th match. Klaasen struck an unbeaten 123 from 114 balls batting at No.5 and followed up with a half-century at Bloemfontein to average 174 after the first two contests of the series. 

43

Rilee Rossouw smashed the Pakistan Super League’s fastest hundred as Multan Sultans putt on 199 for 5 against Quetta Gladiators in Multan.

From 65 for 3 at the halfway point, Multan reeled off 134 runs from the next 10. Rossouw’s 43-ball century, which consisted of 10 fours and six sixes, was the seventh hundred in PSL history - none have come with a higher strike rate than the South African’s 227.27

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10

Ben Dunk smashed 10 sixes in a 43-ball 93 for Lahore Qalandars against Quetta Gladiators - no other batsman has struck more than eight in a single PSL innings.

155

Dunk was well assisted by Samit Patel (71 off 40) as the pair shared a sublime 155-run stand. The partnership, which came from just 73 balls, is the second-highest PSL partnership for any wicket, second only to Liam Livingstone and Babar Azam’s 157-run (94 balls) opening stand for Karachi against Multan in 2019.

500

West Indies' 25-run over Sri Lanka at Pallekele on Wednesday marked Kieron Pollard's 500th T20 appearance. The skipper smashed 34 off 15 as his side put on 196 for 4 in the first T20I of the series.

1,000th

Ireland’s T20I against Afghanistan at Greater Noida on Friday represented the country’s 1,000th men’s match since the first ‘capped’ match in 1855. Ireland couldn’t mark the occasion with a win as Asghar Afgan’s side took an 11-run victory (DLS) to open the three-match series.

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