From Rohit Sharma's record-scripting twin tons to India's 203-run win, all stats from 1st Test in Vizag
India defeated South Africa by 203 runs in the opening Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
Overcoming some stoic resistance by Dane Piedt and Senerun Muthuswamy on the final day in Visakhapatnam, India defeated South Africa by 203 runs in the opening Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series. The two stitched a gritty 91-run stand for the ninth wicket before Mohammed Shami ran riot through the lower middle order to scalp a sensational five-wicket haul and gift India yet another 40 points in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship and subsequently consolidate their position atop.
South Africa started the game on a poor note with the bowlers looking hapless in the first 82 overs of the match and they ended on a poor note, folding for just 191 runs. And in between, India witnessed the arrival of a new Test opener in Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal converted his maiden Test ton into a double centuy, the two spinners reached their respective milestones and eventually, Shami strengthened his bond with second innings. Here are some of the key statistics from the opening Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
Rohit Sharma joins elite list, Mayank scores maiden ton on home debut
1st Rohit became the only cricketer in the history to score two back-to-back centuries in maiden Test match as opener. Overall, he is the sixth Indian batsman to score centuries in each innings of a Test match after Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar (thrice), Rahul Dravid (twice), Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. Meanwhile, he is also the first Indian batsman to be stumped in both the innings of a Test match. Never has he been stumped in 137 previous innings in first-class cricket
7 With his back-to-back centuries, Rohit surpassed Everton Weekes (Nov 1948 - Feb 1949), Rahul Dravid (Nov 1997 - Mar 1998) and Andy Flower (Mar 1993 - Nov 2000) to become the first player to score seven straight fifty-plus scores on home soild. His last seven innings in India read: 82, 51*, 102*, 65, 50*, 176 and 127.
Player's to back-to-back tons
Player | Innings 1 | Innings 2 | Runs | Against | Venue | Season |
Vijay Hazare | 116 | 145 | 261 | Australia | Adelaide | 1947/48 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 124 | 220 | 344 | West Indies | Port of Spain | 1971 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 111 | 137 | 248 | Pakistan | Karachi | 1978/79 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 107 | 182* | 289 | West Indies | Kolkata | 1978/79 |
Rahul Dravid | 190 | 103* | 293 | New Zealand | Hamilton | 1998/99 |
Rahul Dravid | 110 | 135 | 245 | Pakistan | Kolkata | 2004/05 |
Virat Kohli | 115 | 141 | 256 | Australia | Adelaide | 2014/15 |
Ajinkya Rahane | 127 | 100* | 227 | South Africa | Delhi | 2015/16 |
Rohit Sharma | 176 | 127 | 303 | South Africa | Visakhapatnam | 2019/20 |
303 With his 176 and 127 in the opening Test match against South Africa, Rohit has scored the most runs in maiden Test as opener, surpassing Tillakaratne Dilshan's 215 runs against New Zealand in Galle in 2009.
4 On the second day of the Test, Mayank scored his maiden international ton before converting it into a double century en route to his score of 215. He became the fourth Indian batsman to do so after Dilip Sardesai, Vinod Kambli, and Karun Nair. While it was the first century by an Indian opener since Sehwag's 293 against Sri Lanka in 2009/10, Mayank also became the joint third-quickest for India (8) alongside Gavaskar to notch up the triple-figure mark in his career.
317 The opening partnership between Rohit and Mayank in the first innings is the third 300-plus stand for India, 14th for any Test team and second against South Africa. And the score is the 12th-highest opening stand in Test history and second-highest for India after 410 scored by Sehwag and Dravid in 2006.
Partners | Wicket | Runs | Opposition | Year |
MA Agarwal, RG Sharma (INDIA) | 1 | 317 | South Africa | 2019 |
Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal (BDESH) | 1 | 312 | Pakistan | 2015 |
ND McKenzie, GC Smith (SA) | 1 | 415 | Bangladesh | 2008 |
R Dravid, V Sehwag (INDIA) | 1 | 410 | Pakistan | 2006 |
HH Gibbs, GC Smith (SA) | 1 | 301 | West Indies | 2004 |
Sixes galore in Visakhapatnam
38 sixes were struck in the opening Test match -- the most in any game in the history of Test cricket, surpassing the previous record of 35 maximums hit during the match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah in the 2014/15 series.
27 out of the total 38 were hit by Indian batters -- the most by an Test side in a single match as they eclipsed the previous record of 22 by New Zealand against Pakistan in Sharjah in 2014/15. For the Indian cricket team, their previous best was 15, against Sri Lanka at Brabourne Stadium in 2009/10.
13 sixes out of the total 38 -- 35 per cent to be precise -- is the most sixes hit by a batsman in a single Test match as he overhauled Wasim Akram's record of 12 against Zimbabwe in 1996/97. Rohit hit six maximums in the first innings and seven in the second. The tally of 13 is also the most by an Indian batsman in a single Test, going past Navjot Sidhu's eight against Sri Lanka in Lucknow in 1993/94. Not to forget, Rohit now holds the record of most sixes in a single game across formats - 16 in an ODI match and 10 in a T20I match.
Ashwin, Jadeja, Shami join record books
66 With his dismissal of Theunis de Bruyn, Ashwin became the joint-fastest to reach the landmark of 350 Test wickets, standing alongside Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.
27 En route to his 8/174 in the match against South Africa, Ashwin picked his 27th five-wicket haul in the format, equalling the record of England's James Anderson and Ian Botham to stand seventh in the all-time list.
5 Shami became the fifth Indian pacer to take a fifer in the fourth innings of a Test match at home after Karsan Ghavri, Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, and Javagal Srinath. He is also the first pacer to take two five-wicket hauls against South Africa in the fourth innings of a Test.
44 Jadeja on day 3 had become the fastest left-arm bowler to reach the milestone of 200 Test wickets, going past Rangana Herath's record (47 innings). He also became the second-fastest Indian to the mark, after Ashwin who had taken his 200th Test wicket in his 37th innings.
Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock centuries; Keshav Maharaj's unwanted triple ton
160 Elgar's triple-figure knock was his first on Asian soild since he hit 103 against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2014, his first in India and South Africa's first in India since Hashim Amla's ton in 2010. It was also the first instance of an opener from the visitting team to score a 150-plus knock in India after Alastair Cook's 190 in Kolkata in 2012/13.
2 De Kock on day 3 became the second South African wicketkeeper to score a Test century in Asia after AB de Villiers's 164 against Pakistan in Dubai in 2013/14. He also became the seventh wicketkeeper-batsman to score a ton on debut innings in Indian soil after Clyde Walcott, Andy Flower, Adam Gilchrist, Deep Dasgupta, Prasanna Jayawardene and Mushfiqur Rahim; and the third South African batsman to do so after Andre Hall and Alviro Petersen.
318 Conceding 189 in the first innings and 129 in the second, Maharaj has amassed an unwanted triple century which is the third most in a Test match after Tommy Scott's 374 against England in the timeless Test in Kingston in 1929/30 and 358 by Jason Krejza's in Nagpur in 2008/09.