NZ vs PAK, 2020-21: 1st Test, Day 5 – New Zealand's unbeaten streak, Fawad's long wait, Rizwan’s captaincy debut and more stats

New Zealand ended 2020 with a thrilling victory over Pakistan to become the No.1 ranked Test team for the first time in their history. New Zealand declared their 2nd innings at the score of 180/5 to set a target of 373 for Pakistan in four sessions. Both the opening batters of New Zealand bagged ducks and the team was three wickets down before stumps. Fawad Alam spent 396 minutes at the crease scoring 102 from 269 balls. He shared a 165-run stand with skipper Mohammad Rizwan in as many as 62.2 overs. Pakistan lost their last six wickets in 20.5 and got bowled out for 271 with 4.3 overs to spare.

Here are all the statistical highlights from New Zealand’s victory during the first NZ vs PAK Test match:

100% win record for New Zealand at home in 2020:

5 – These are the most number of Test matches New Zealand played at home in a calendar year with 100 win percentage. The previous most for New Zealand were three Test matches apiece in 1998 and 2015.

16 – New Zealand have not lost any of their last 16 Test matches at home since losing to South Africa in the 2017 Wellington Test against South Africa. This 16-match streak is the longest for New Zealand at home in Test cricket without a defeat.

New Zealand’s pace dominance at home:

2 – Mitchell Santner’s two wickets to wrap up the Test are the only wickets taken by New Zealand spinners across five home Test matches in 2020. A total of 93 wickets were accounted by the New Zealand pacers in those five home Tests this year.

Only two other teams played five or more Test matches in a calendar year in a country while picking as few as two spin wickets – West Indies on England soil in 1980 (0 wickets in 5 Tests) and England on England soil in 1998 (2 wickets in 6 Tests).

Fawad’s long wait for a Test century:

1 – Fawad Alam became the first player to score centuries on either end of a 10+ years/100+ Tests break from Test cricket. Fawad’s maiden Test century came in 2009 during his debut game but did not play a Test between 2010 and 2019.

4188 – Fawad’s first and 2nd centuries in Test cricket are separated by 4188 days which is the 3rd longest gap between two Test tons for any player. Only Warren Bardsley (5093 – 1912/1926) between his 5th and 6th Test centuries and Syed Mushtaq Ali (4544 – 1936/1949) between his first and 2nd Test tons had a longer break than Fawad.

The Southpaw’s gap of 4188 days between two tons in Test cricket is also the longest for any player to not involve breaks that occurred due to World Wars. The previous longest gap excluding breaks caused by wars is 3888 days between Upul Tharanga’s first and second Test tons.

Twin fifties on captaincy debut:

1 – Mohammad Rizwan became the first player in Test history to register fifty-plus scores in his maiden game as a keeper-captain. Rizwan is also the first Pakistan Test cricketer with fifties in both innings on captaincy debut. Overall, he is the 10th player with 50+ scores in both innings on Test captaincy debut. Virat Kohli (vs Australia in 2014 Adelaide Test) was the last of the previous nine captains with this feat.

4 – Mohammad Rizwan became the 4th Pakistan wicketkeeper with 50+ scores in both innings of a Test match (Sarfaraz Ahmed achieved the feat three times). He is also the first Pakistan keeper with twin fifties in a Test match outside Asia.

Southee @ 300 wickets:

300 – The wicket of Haris Sohail in the 2nd essay was the 300th wicket in Test cricket for Tim Southee. He is now only the 3rd player to bag 300 Test wickets for New Zealand after Sir Richard Hadlee (431) and Daniel Vettori (361).

New Zealand bowlers share wickets:

9 – Pakistan’s 2nd innings became only the 9th instance of five players claiming exactly two wickets in a Test inning. This is the 2nd such instance for New Zealand with the first occasion coming during the 2016 Wellington Test against Australia.

Jamieson’s tight spells:

26 – Number of maiden overs by Kyle Jamieson during the Test match; 13 maidens apiece in both innings. These are the joint 2nd most number of maiden overs by any New Zealand pacer in a home Test match.

Lance Cairns delivered as many as 29 maiden overs during the 1981 Auckland Test against India while Harry Cave (vs WI in 1956 Auckland Test) and Ewen Chatfield (vs ENG in 1986 Christchurch Test) bowled 26 maidens each.

2001 – The last pace bowler to bowl as many as 26 maiden overs in a Test match before Jamieson was Courtney Walsh in 2001. As many as 27 of the 69 overs bowled by the West Indian against South Africa in the 2001 Antigua Test were maidens.

1.41 – Kyle Jamieson had an economy rate of 1.41 during this Test as he bowled 49.2 overs conceding only 70 runs. The last instance of a pacer bowling more overs than Jamieson at a better economy rate was Curtly Ambrose in 2000. The West Indian pacer bowled 53 overs conceding 74 runs at an economy rate of 1.39 during the 2000 Oval Test against England.

A long partnership for Pakistan:

380 – Fawad Alam and Mohammad Rizwan pair lasted 380 balls which is now the 2nd longest known partnership in the 4th innings for Pakistan. Shan Masood and Younis Khan batted 400 balls for their 3rd wicket stand of 242 in the 2015 Pallekele Test against Sri Lanka.

A rare long Test in New Zealand with a result:

2558 – A total of 2558 balls were bowled during the Mount Maunganui Test which are the 5th most in a Test match to end with a result on New Zealand soil. This is also the longest such Test in terms of balls since the 1997 Christchurch Test between New Zealand and England where the visitors won by 4 wickets after as many as 2694 balls being bowled.