Arbit Stats #71: A Series of Numbers

From the University of WhatsApp came this test.

And with it came a helpful hint –."difference between each letter may or may not be the same but there is an underlying pattern i.e. difference between A & B, B & C, C & D to M & N follow a pattern. Some numbers may have to be force fitted" 

It was an interesting exercise, cracked only once the pattern had been guessed. And then reverse fitting the numbers to famous (or not so famous) cricketing instances. The difference between the consecutive numbers are in Fibonacci sequence (each being the sum of the previous two differences). So here are the solutions

A - 181 – Sir Vivian Richards vs Sri Lanka in the 1987 World Cup helping West Indies to 360 to record a 191-run victory. Richards got his 181 off 125 balls while Desmond Haynes scored a more sedate 105 off 124 balls!

 

B - 181 – Matthew Hayden’s 181 helped Australia to 346 which was overhauled by the Kiwis. After suffering a whitewash in the series Australia went to go on to win the 2007 World Cup with another undefeated run! 

C - 182 – Mohammed Azharuddin top-scored in Eden Gardens in 1993 to set the tone for 3-0 whitewash against England and rescue his captaincy. 

D - 183 – India’s team total in the 1983 World Cup final. And they won comfortably by 43 runs. New Zealand got the same score in the 2015 final and were thrashed! 

E - 185 – Shane Watson's blitzkrieg helped overhaul Bangladesh’s 229 in just 26 overs! Wonder where Watson would have ended up if he had played the full 50 overs. 

F - 188 – Gary Kirsten vs UAE in the 1996 World Cup. A match also remembered for the UAE skipper Sultan Zarawani coming out to face Alan Donald without a helmet and promptly getting knocked in the head. 

G - 193 - Netherlands stunning run-chase vs Ireland in 2014 T20WC. They needed to chase a target of 190 in under 14 overs which is exactly what they did to go through to the next round. A chase which was replicated a few weeks later in the IPL by Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals (the famous Dravid cap throwing incident) 

H - 201 - Jason Gillespie came in as a nightwatchman and got a double century against Bangladesh. Got the Man of the Match & Series Awards for his efforts. And never played another Test for Australia! 

I - 214 – the 3rd highest score on Test debut – by Lawrence Rowe for West Indies vs New Zealand & Matthew Sinclair for New Zealand vs West Indies. Behind Tip Foster’s 287 & Jacques Rudolph’ 232 

J - 235 - Virat Kohli vs England

K - 269 - Kohli is 269th Indian test player and hence the tattoo. 

L - 324 - Waheed Mirza’s score in the 561 run opening partnership with Mansoor Akhtar for Karachi Whites against Quetta breaking the record of 555 made by Holmes & Sutcliffe 45 years previously. No one else needed to bat for Karachi as they recorded an innings & 294 run victory 

M - 413 – Opening partnership of Vinoo Mankad & Pankaj Roy against New Zealand. A record which stood for over half a century. 

N - 557 – Clarrie Grimmett Test runs aggregate. His record for fastest to 200 wickets was finally broken by Yasir Shah after Ashwin nearly threatened to break it. 

This was one wicked quiz. Cricket’s obsession with statistics makes it truly a mathematician’s delight.

World Cup Thoughts - March 18th Goodbye Ireland

Farewell Ireland & Netherlands. If the ICC sticks to its crazy idea of a 10 team cup in 2015, we might not see you in the next World Cup. But you certainly entertained.

• Ireland for the second consecutive World Cup put up a spirited show. Beat England and Netherlands, were in command at various stages against Bangladesh and West Indies, and certainly had India and South Africa in a bit of bother. Ireland became my second favorite team through the course of the cup.
• Farewell to Trent Johnston and his chicken dance. Don't think there have been more innovative ways to celebrate a wicket in cricket.
• Hoping to see a couple of Irish players in the IPL. The O'Brien brothers (Niall & Kevin), Paul Stirling, George Dockrell have serious talent. It would be sad though if they turn up in the next World Cup playing for England.
• Netherlands scared England but could not really fight it out with the other big boys. They did resemble a One-man army at most times. Ryan ten Doeschate (tendo in short, provided me quite a few points in the cricinfo fantasy league) came in with the highest batting average amongst all players. And certainly did not do those numbers any harm even playing against the big boys. Will certainly follow his performances in the IPL with interest.
• The other game of the day between Sri Lanka & New Zealand continued the trend of one sided matches in Group A with New Zealand beaten easily. 
• The tables are still a mess though with no idea of who is going to face who in the quarters.
• For tomorrow, Bangladesh have a chance to script their own destiny. They have beaten South Africa in the last World Cup and might as well do so again tomorrow.

World Cup Thoughts - March 9th

It was an India match day, so a post has to come. Missed most of the game due to being at work. Only saw the end bits. Here are the thoughts for the day.

• First, Piyush Chawla - From the reactions on the internet, he is fast replacing Ravindra Jadeja as the most abused Indian cricketer.
• It seems to be a new strategy. Zaheer opens the innings, the other pacer opens from the other and after one over Yusuf starts over. Not a bad move given that except Praveen Kumar (and he is not playing), the other Indian pacers seem to prefer bowling with the older ball.
• 4 in 4 for Sehwag. 4th innings in the World Cup and he starts with a boundary of the first ball. Thats a nice little habit to have. Had read somewhere that Sir Jack Hobbs (the greatest run accumulator in 1st Class cricket) liked to take a single off the first ball he faced. So Sehwag should be doing well.
• Yuvraj Singh had another good day in the office. But the rest of the team seemed to be taking it easy. Still the Seven Samurai managed to get the job done in the end.
• I thought India had made it to the Quarters by now. But it seems I was wrong. There is an odd chance that we have not. If WI beat Eng, Eng beat Ban, WI beat Ind, Ire beat WI, SA beat Ind, Ire beat SA, SA beat Ban & Ire beat Neth, Ind could still miss out. (Source - @espncricinfo)
• And to end with some new titles for Kamran Akmal - Here is what he has been described as by the master of Awesome cricket writing Andy Zaltzman -  the Maharajah of Missed Chances, the Don Corleone of Dropped Catches, the Earl of Err, the Pharaoh of Fumble, Lance Corporal Granite Hands

World Cup Thoughts - March 3rd

After the grand Irish victory, yesternight, 2 seemingly boring matches were lined up. Here are today's World Cup thoughts.

• South Africa hammered Netherlands by 232 run margin. The batting machine was efficient with Amla & de Villiers getting centuries while no one really clicked for the Dutch.
• The 2nd game between Canada and Pakistan turned out to be much closer than expected. Pakistan certainly in quite a bit of bother till Afridi came up with a 5-wicket haul.
• Canada looked liked an immigrant XI more than anything else.
• They might have been beaten on the field but the Canadians certainly did not fall behind on thee verbal front. It was certainly funny seeing all the talk going on.
• ICC seemed to be using this game to popularise the concept of the UDRS. Daryll Harper made one mistake after another and then kept on getting corrected by the Decision Review System. 
• Tomorrow 2 critical matches from the Quarter-final perspective are lined up. Zimbabwe against new Zealand and Bangladesh against West Indies. My predictions - Zimababwe and Bangladesh to win.

Cricketing Joke of the Day

Q. What do you say when the "Laughing Buddha" becomes serious?

A. Gautam Gambhir [Gautam being the name of Buddha and Gambhir meaning "serious"]

World Cup Thoughts - Feb 28th

After the fantastic tied match between India and England, the World Cup went back to sleep on Monday with 2 low profile one-sided matches taking place. The only good thing was that in the hangover of the India-England game these two went almost unnoticed. Here are the thoughts for the day.

• Zimbabwe indulged in some minnow bashing. Played a whole army of spinners and thrashed Canada. Tatenda Taibu (who yours truly had selected as the Trump player in his cricinfo league) picked up the Man of the Match while Ray Price (another slection :D) destroyed the Canadian top order.
• Netherlands just could not sustain the momentum from the previous game against England and were destroyed by the West Indies. My players (RTD & Bravo) did not have that good a game. 
• A world cup hattrick does deserv special mention for Kemar Roach.
• I have said it before, spin will rule the Cup. And that is why I have a feeling that Zimbabwe might sneak into the Quarters ahead of the Kiwis. Even West Indies are opening the bowling with Benn.
• The Associates are better off batting first, given most of the games are day-nighters. Score big and then funny things can happen while chasing under the lights.
•  Today's prediction - Sri Lanka (the biggest of the minnow bashers) will roll over Kenya.

World Cup Thoughts - Feb 22nd

After 4 boring matches finally a close one. Netherlands certainly embarrassed England though they just did not have the bowling attack to beat them. While Australia certainly proved too good for Zimbabwe. Here are some random thoughts

• Ryan ten Doeschate (RTD) was awesome with the bat and the ball. But if he had not misjudged that Ravi Bopara six shot, who knows what could have happened next.
• The ICC qualification rules for players do need an overhaul. Or else playing for country will soon become similar to playing for a club.
• If Dirk Nannes had still been playing for Netherlands, things certainly could have been different.
• Shane Watson is now the Aussie for all season.
• Australia cant play spin.
• Ricky Ponting's behaviour is certainly tarnishing his legacy. Breaking a TV now ???
• After a pathetic start my cricinfo fantasy team finally has taken off in style (Thanks to Watson & RTD)
• RTD has to be a good batsman. He has "ten" in his name. (After all we do know what a certain batsman whose surname starts with "TEN" is capable off)

World Cup boring so far. Where are the big matches? ICC has to be blamed for some atrocious scheduling.

And finally, thoughts are with people in New Zealand who have been impacted by the earthquake there.