Australia and Pakistan first met in a limited-overs international during the 1975 World Cup, at Leeds on 7-6-1975. The former won the encounter by 73 runs. Since then the teams have met each other in 66 matches, with the Aussies winning 36 matches and the Pakistanis 26. Three matches between the two sides were left unfinished, while one ended in a tie (on 10-12-1992, at Hobart).
The two teams have so far met each other in six World Cup matches, with both teams winning three matches each -- in 1975, in 1979 (at Nottingham -- Pakistan won by 89 runs), in the 1987 semi-finals (at Lahore -- Australia won by 18 runs), in 1992 (at Perth -- Pakistan won by 48 runs) and twice in 1999 (at Leeds -- Pakistan won by 10 runs and then in a one-sided final at Lord's -- Australia won by 8 wickets).
In all limited-overs internationals between the two teams, the highest team total for Australia is the 337-5 it made at Sydney on 4-2-2000, while Pakistan's highest is the 315-8 at Lahore on 10-11-1998.
The Pakistanis had made 108 at Nairobi, on 30-8-2002, which is the lowest total between the two sides while the Aussies' 120 at Hobart on 7-1-1997 remains its lowest against Pakistan.
In all, eight hundreds have been scored by the Australian batsmen, while the Pakistanis have managed six, with Zaheer Abbas being the only batsman from the two sides to hit two hundreds. Matthew Hayden's 146 (in 128 balls) at Nairobi on 30-8-2002 is the highest for Australia, while Ijaz Ahmed's 111 (in 109 balls) at Lahore on 10-11-1998 is the best by a Pakistani batsman against Australia.
Javed Miandad has the highest run aggregate of 1019 runs (avg. 33.97) in 35 matches, while Australia's Steve Waugh has 1003 runs (avg. 31.34) in 43 matches.
Wasim Akram (64 wickets at an average of 27.72 in 48 matches) and Glenn McGrath (41 wickets at an average of 21.41 in 25 matches) have the distinction of being the top wicket-takers for the respective countries.
Waqar Younis's 6-59 in 8 overs at Nottingham on 19-6-2001 has the best bowling figures, while Carl Rackemann recorded the best figures -- 5-16 in 8.2 overs -- at Adelaide on 30-1-1984 for the Australians.
© 2024 Rediff.com -