One of the greatest one-day innings of all time just got better. The Wisden 20:20 stats for Michael Bevan's matchwinning 102 not out at the MCG on Tuesday show just what a remarkable performance it was. From 95 balls, Bevan played only five uncontrolled shots - that's edges, play-and-misses, or any shot that the batsman is not on top of - meaning he was in control of 95% of the deliveries he faced. The figure for an innings is usually somewhere around 80%. Sachin Tendulkar, during his dazzling 87 at Kanpur the day before, was in control of 82% of his shots.

Bevan hit only seven fours in his innings, and to make a big score at more than a run a ball with so few boundaries is very rare. He scored off 65% of his deliveries (for the Tendulkar masterclass, the figure was 46%), and actually had to run off 58% of balls faced. For Tendulkar, bearing out what Darren Gough said about him not bothering much with singles because he knows he can hit you for four, the figure was 36%.

Bevan worked the ball all around the wicket: 27 runs square on the off side, 22 through midwicket, 14 to long-on, 13 to long-off. More than one in every two deliveries, Bevan had to scamper runs - and often twos, of which he made 17 - and yet he still had the concentration and fitness to nudge and scamper those five decisive, consecutive twos in the penultimate over of the match from Andre Adams.

All this on a day when no other Australian passed 29. For spectators and protagonist alike, it was a breathtaking experience.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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