The sporting week in numbers

All Blacks first five-eighths Dan Carter joined Twitter this week and had already amassed more than 30,000 followers by Friday morning. Photo / Getty Images.

APNZ's Daniel Richardson takes a look at the sporting week in numbers

21 - England's Andrew Strauss retired from all forms of cricket this week and the former skipper registered 21 centuries in a neat 100 tests. The left-hander, who made a century on test debut against New Zealand at Lord's, also enjoyed a stint with Northern Districts in 2008.

14 - The ongoing summer Paralympics, that got underway this week, marks the 14th time the Games have been held. More than 4,200 athletes from 164 countries will take part in the event.

14 - Washington Nationals 19-year-old Bryce Harper struck his 14th home run of the Major League Baseball season against the Miami Marlins on Thursday, which is one more than New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle hit at age 19 in 1951. Tony Conigliaro holds the record for the most homers by a teenager when he blasted 24 in his rookie year in 1964.

206 - Canberra Raiders centre Jarrod Croker leads all NRL players with 206 points this season. The goal-kicking centre will take the field for the Green Machine against the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday afternoon.

30,000 - All Blacks first five-eighths Dan Carter joined Twitter this week and had already amassed more than 30,000 followers by Friday morning.

7 - New Wellington Phoenix recruit Jeremy Brockie netted seven goals in two games on the club's pre-season tour to India this week. The All White was hotly pursued by Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert in the off-season and fans will hope it's a sign of things to come when the A-League kicks off in October.

2 - Wellington may have struggled in last year's ITM Cup but this season they have won their first two games under new coach Chris Boyd. The Lions dispatched Hawkes Bay 30-15 in the capital on Tuesday night and host Southland on Sunday.

1 - South Africa defeated England by 80 runs in their second one-day cricket match in Southampton this week which took them to the No 1 ranking in the world in the 50-over format. Graeme Smith's men are the first side to be ranked at the top of the tree in tests, one-dayers and T20s at the same time.

29 - New Zealand shot put competitor Valerie Adams extended her winning streak across all competitions to 29 when she triumped in the final Diamond League meeting for the season in the Zurich Railway Station in Switzerland on Thursday. Adams' best throw of 20.81m set new indoor marks in the New Zealand and Oceania record books and added 27cm to her previous indoor record of 20.54m.

54 - Maria Sharapova needed just 54 minutes to advance to the third round of the US Tennis Open on Thursday. The four-time Grand Slam champion beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-1 as the third-seed blasted 30 winners in the whirlwind match.