The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 culminated on Sunday in a one-sided contest as Pakistan went on to lift the trophy for the first time by beating defending champions India by a whopping 180-run margin.
Throughout its three weeks, the tournament had a lot of fascinating records and statistics to take note of. Let’s have a look at 12 such interesting figures:
With 338 runs from 5 matches at an average of 67.60 and a strike-rate of 101.80, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was the leading run-scorer of the Champions Trophy for the second time running. In the 2013 edition, too, Dhawan had topped the batting charts with 363 runs from 5 games. This year, Dhawan scored his runs with the help of one hundred and 2 fifties with a highest score of 125 against Sri Lanka.
Highest individual score:
Joe Root’s fantastic unbeaten 133 while chasing a target of 305 against Bangladesh at The Oval in the first match of the tournament has remained the highest individual score by a batsman this year. The star English batsman scored his runs off 129 balls with one six and 11 fours.
Pakistan’s new pace bowling sensation Hasan Ali has become the highest wicket-taker of this year’s Champions Trophy with 13 wickets in 5 matches at a terrific average of 14.69 and an economy of 4.29. It was a remarkable performance in these placid wickets. Australia’s Josh Hazelwood was second on the list with 9 wickets from just 3 matches.
Best bowling figures:
Josh Hazelwood’s outstanding spell of 6-52 against New Zealand at Edgbaston, Birmingham, were the best bowling figures this year. Hazelwood’s performance helped Australia restrict New Zealand when they were flying off towards a huge total.
Incidentally, this was the only five-wicket haul in this year’s Champions Trophy and only the second six-wicket haul of the tournament’s history – the second being 6-14 by Farveez Maharoof of Sri Lanka.
Highest batting average:
Indian captain Virat Kohli’s stunning average of 129 from 5 matches is the best batting average of the Champions Trophy this year. Kohli scored 258 runs with 3 fifties.
The second on the list is England’s Jos Butler, who had an incredible average of 94 from 4 matches.
Most sixes:
Although he got to bat only on three occasions in the series, India’s Hardik Pandya hit 10 sixes in the Champions Trophy 2017 – the highest of this edition. Pandya hit three sixes in India’s first match against Pakistan, one six against Sri Lanka, and then six sixes in the final at The Oval against Pakistan again. Pandya also had a strike-rate of 194.44 – the highest in the tournament.
The second batsman on the list is England’s Eoin Morgan with 7 sixes from 4 matches.
Most expensive bowling spell:
Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz’s horrific spell of 0-87 from 8.4 overs against India at Birmingham was the most expensive bowling spell of the Champions Trophy this year. Riaz went at an atrocious economy rate of 10.03.
This spell, incidentally, was not just the most expensive spell of Champions Trophy 2017 but the most expensive one in the tournament’s history.
Largest victory:
By runs
Pakistan’s massive 180-run victory over India in the finals of the Champions Trophy 2017 was the highest margin of victory by a team by runs in this edition.
By wickets
India’s comprehensive 9-wicket victory over Bangladesh while chasing a target of 265 was this year’s largest victory in terms of wickets.
Best economy rate in an innings:
Pakistan’s Imad Wasim had an economy rate of just 2.50 in his spell of 2-20 from 8 overs against South Africa at Edgbaston, Birmingham. This was the best economy rate by a bowler in this edition of the Champions Trophy. The second on the list is South Africa’s Morne Morkel who had an economy rate of 2.57 in his spell of 3-18 from 7 overs against India.
Highest total:
Pakistan’s mammoth 338-4 in the final of the Champions Trophy this year was the highest total of this edition and only the second highest total of the tournament’s history.
Highest partnership:
Shakib-Al-Hasan and Mahmudullah’s incredible match-winning partnership of 224 against New Zealand at Cardiff was this year’s highest partnership. The duo got together when Bangladesh were reeling at 33-4 and from there stitched a memorable partnership that helped them eventually clinch the game with ease and qualify for the semi-final against India.
This was only the third 200-run partnership in the Champions Trophy history and the second-best of the eight editions of the tournament.
Wicket-keeper with most dismissals:
Pakistan’s captain Sarfraz Ahmed with 9 dismissals (all catches) in 5 matches topped the wicket-keeping charts this year by a big margin. The second one on the list was England’s Jos Butler with 5 dismissals (3 catches and 2 stumpings).
