Australia's ODI win by the numbers

Australia opened the one-day series against Pakistan with an emphatic victory led by Steve Smith's batting performance and an outstanding display in the field (watch the video above). Mazher Arshad breaks down the numbers to bring you the best stats from the opening one-day clash in Sharjah.

29 – Australia’s Sean Abbott became the first player in the history of one-day international cricket who was born on February 29 and there are 2179 players who have featured in ODIs. He is also the only cricketer in Twenty20 internationals to be born on Leap Day. Among Test cricketers, there are two who were born on February 29 – Alf Gover (England) and Gavin Stevens (Australia).

1 – Number of centuries Steve Smith has scored in ODIs. Although it was his maiden century in 50-over cricket for Australia, it was his third in international cricket this year, the joint-most by any Australian. Aaron Finch and David Warner have also scored three tons in 2014, however, Finch (21) and Warner (18) have played more innings than Smith (14). The performance earned Smith his maiden Man of the Match award in ODIs. Interestingly, it was his first ton in List A Cricket too.

Image Id: ~/media/2FCCF788904E4B5D8D10A6A174220B34 

2 – Number of Pakistan players who made their ODI debuts aged above 35. Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar (35 years and 301 days) became the second oldest debutant to earn a green cap after Younis Ahmed (39 years and 121 days) against India at Eden Gardens Kolkata in 1987.

3 – Number of centuries scored in Sharjah by Australian batsmen. Smith’s effort of 101 from 118 balls was third after Dean Jones’ unbeaten 117 against Sri Lanka in 1990 and Michael Bevan’s 101 not out against India in 1998. All three came in team victories.

9 – When Aaron Finch was caught off Mohammad Irfan, it was the ninth instance of a batsman from Australia getting out on the first ball of a match in ODI cricket. Finch had been dismissed once before in this fashion, when England’s Steven Finn got him lbw at Cardiff in 2013. Adam Gilchrist has been dismissed on the first ball of an ODI three times, Shane Watson twice, Michael Clarke and Graeme Wood once each. The bowler who has dismissed batsmen in this fashion most often is Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vass (five times).

21 – Mohammad Irfan has 43 wickets in ODIs, 21 of them have been of the opening batsmen. This means 48.83 percent of his wickets are from batting positions one and two and shows his trait of getting early breakthroughs.

216 – The number of ODIs played at Sharjah Cricket Ground, by far the most at any venue in world. An interesting fact related to Sharjah is that of these 216 ODIs, not even once has the game been washed out or ended as 'No Result', which illustrates the lack of rain in the region. The next venue with the most ODIs without producing a 'No Result' is the WACA in Perth (71) and then Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (58). 

78.26 – The winning percentage of Australia in ODIs against Pakistan since 2004. During this period, they have played 23 ODIs against each other, with Australia winning 18 and Pakistan only five.

2002 – The year when Pakistan last beat Australia in an ODI series. Since then Australia have got the better of Pakistan in three series, twice in the UAE in 2009 and 2012 and once at home in 2010. In the interim, Australia also beat Pakistan in the one-off ODI played at Lord’s in 2004. Pakistan’s last series win was 12 years ago when Shoaib Akhtar bowled a famous five-wicket spell to clinch the series 2-1 at the Gabba.

2 - Number of times Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq has been dismissed for a golden duck in ODIs, on both occasions it was against Australia - in this match and once at Colombo RPS in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Apart from these first-ball ducks, he also has two diamond ducks (i.e out without facing a ball), which came through run outs against Ireland in 2013 and Afghanistan in 2014.

14 – Number of times Pakistan have failed to chase a target of 250 or more in ODIs since 2011. They have successfully chased 250 or more only three times in this period.

18 – Number of times Pakistan have failed to chase 250 against Australia in all ODIs. They have only managed to beat Australia on four occasions when asked to chase 250 or more.

Follow Mazher on Twitter @cricket_U