England vs New Zealand ODI series — A series breaking all batting records

Kane Williamson was awarded ‘Man of the Series’ for emerging the top run-getter in the series (396) © Getty Images

The five-match ODI series between England and New Zealand was a record galore! Bharath Seervi highlights the various records that were broken in this series.

The lowest first innings total was 283. The average first innings total was 348. Three of the five matches were won by teams batting second. All these are enough to mark this as a series of runs, runs and only runs. The series ended with the highest aggregate runs among all 5-match ODI series in history. It also had the best run rate, most fifties and joint-most centuries. READ: Martin Guptill feels NZ have had successful tour of England

Series aggregates: England vs New Zealand ODIs

A whopping 3,151 runs were scored at a run rate of 7.15 and batsmen had a strike rate of 113.8. The average runs per wicket was 41.46 with 7 centuries, 17 more fifties and six ducks. There were 314 fours and 76 sixes. The highest score by a batsman in the series was 129. READ: Brendon McCullum unsure about his ODI future following series loss to England

For bowlers, there was not much of relief. No one took any five-wicket hauls. There were three four-wicket hauls with best figures were 4 for 35.

Let’s see where this series stands in various parameters amongst the previous five-match ODI series.

Highest run-rate in a five-match bilateral ODI series

-    This is the only 5-match ODI series with a run rate of more than 7. Only one more series (irrespective of number of matches) had bettered this — 7.50 between England and Scotland in the one-off match series in 2014. READ: New Zealand bowlers shine for once during ODI series vs England

-    The only other series in England which had run rate of more than 6 was the one between Sri Lanka and England in 2006 with a run rate of 6.01.

Most aggregate runs in a 5-match bilateral ODI series

-    This was the only series were more than 3,000 runs were scored (including extras). It is also the only series were more than 3,000 runs were scored with bat (excluding extras) — 3,016. India vs Pakistan in 2003-04 and India vs New Zealand in 2013-14 had 2,700. READ: Billings hopes ODI series win against NZ will inspire ENG ahead of Ashes

-    The highest aggregate of runs in any bilateral ODI series is 3,755 between West Indies and India in India in 2002-03. It was a 7 -match series.

Highest runs per wicket in a 5-match bilateral ODI series

-    3,151 runs were scored by 76 wickets in this series, the average being 41.46.

-    The previous highest in a 5-match series in England was 40.28 in England vs Sri Lanka in 2006.

Highest batting strike rate in a 5-match bilateral ODI series

-    The strike rate of 113.9 is the highest among all bilateral ODIs series with 2 or more matches.

-    Two India vs Sri Lanka series feature in the top five.

-    The previous best in a series in England was 94.54 between India and England in 2011.

Most centuries by batsmen in a 5-match bilateral ODI series

-    The most centuries in any bilateral ODI series was 9 in India vs Australia in India in 2013-14.

Most fifties by batsmen in a 5-match bilateral ODI series

-    The series also set new records with 25 fifty partnerships.

Most 50+ run partnerships in a five-match bilateral ODI series

Most century partnerships in a five-match bilateral ODI series

As seen in the above tables, most of the batting records were broken in the series. Will the same continue in further ODI series in England involving the ‘New England’ side? Let’s wait and watch!

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)