After looking at those who scored the highest lone century, we look at those who took only one five-for and see who did the best.
This includes all 7wi and better.
The highest here is by Lance Klusener, who was making his debut. He never scored a five-for in Tests again, but did do so in ODIs. Second is SJ Snooke who had a shorter career. But he did take a ten-for, unlike Klusener. Then there is JJ Krejza who took 12 wickets on debut (which his team lost) and played only one more Test
There are many who do better on debut than in their later matches. Here we have Klusener, Krejza, Kendall (in the very first Test), Zahid, de Lange, Ashley (only one innings in his career).
Among current players there is only KC Brathwaite who bowled occasionally until his “breakthrough”.
From India, there are Agarkar (6/41), Ramchand (6/49), Abid Ali (6/55 on debut) and Shinde (6/91).
Now we consider the best innings figures by those who took only one four-for.
The first few names also appear in the first list: Emmett, de Lange, Hornibrook, Ashley and Brathwaite.
Debutants include Ashley (only test and innings), Kirtley and Coldwell.
Current players include Brathwaite and ML Cummings (not Pat !).
From India there are Agarkar, Ramchand and Shinde.
Agarkar’s only score above 50 was a century, along with his only 4+wi was a 6-for.
There are players who score several Test centuries. And some score only one. Here we look at the highest innings by players who scored exactly one century:
Led by KK Nair’s 303*, and followed by RE Foster’s 287 on debut and Z Crawley’s recent 267.
Apart from Foster, Mayers, Kuruppu and Conway have the highest lone centuries on debut.
From India, KK Nair is accompanied by ML Apte and NR Mongia.
You can also see that some of them (starting with KK Nair and D Lloyd) never made a score between 50 and 99.
What about those who made only one score above fifty?
This list is still headed by KK Nair, with the next being D Lloyd and B Kuruppu.. They all made full use of their opportunities once they crossed fifty.
Nair’s second highest score is only 26. For Lloyd it is 49 and for Kuruppu 46. Lloyd started off with 46 and 214* against India’s weak 1974 team, and thus temporarily had a Test average of 260.00 which dipped sharply during the Ashes tour later that year.
There are a few debutants here: Kuruppu, Bannerman, SC Griffith and Hartigan among others.
In recent years there have been Nair, Patterson and Yasir Shah.
From India, Nair is accompanied by A Ratra, RH Shodhan, Agarkar and Pataudi (Sr)
As we will see, Agarkar made only one score above fifty (and made it a century) and only one four-for (which was a 6-for).
Note that the above list includes relatively few lower-order batters. Most are recognized batsmen who got few opportunities. (Ganteaume’s single Test and a few others who played less than 5 Tests.)
Afterthought: KK Nair may well have the record for the highest ratio of highest and second-highest scores: 303/26 = 11.65
Apart from Nair, Sobers (365*) and RB Simpson (311) made their first century a triple. Unlike him, they scored many more centuries after that.
Here we look at the best fielding performances in the fourth innings for the winning team.
Most dismissals: (15 and above):
Headed by Gilchrist, Haddin and Healy, who kept for Australia for most Tests between 1989 and 2015.
Current players include de Kock, the just-retired Watling, Bairstow, Paine and Pant.
India’s players are headed by Pant, followed by non-keeper Kohli, Dhoni and another non-keeper Dravid.
Most dismissals in an innings (5 and above):
Watling is the only one with 6 dismissals, followed by many with 5. Apart from GC Smith, no non-keeper has taken more than 4 catches. Healy appears here twice.
Of special note is KS More’s 5 stumpings. This is the world record for stumpings in an innings. 4 of these were off debutant Hirwani.
Most dismissals per innings (Minimum 15 innings):
Headed by de Kock, closely followed by Haddin.
The best by current players are by de Kock, Bairstow, Buttler and Stokes.
For India, the best are by Dravid and Kohli-both non-keepers. Indian keepers (apart from More) do not seem to have done well in winning matches in the fourth innings.
We now look at the bowlers who have been most successful in winning matches in the fourth innings.
Most wickets (35 and above):
Warne leads with 103, followed by late developer Herath and McGrath.
Herath has the most five-fors (11) followed by Muralitharan (7)
Current players are headed by Lyon (68 wickets), Broad and Ashwin.
The most wickets by Indian players are by Ashwin (65), Kumble (51) and Ishant Sharma (45).
Best innings bowling (including all 8wi and above):
The best here is 10-74 by Kumble. (Laker’s 10-wicket haul was in the third innings). Then there is 9-86 by Sarfraz Nawaz which included a spell of 7-1.
The best innings figures in recent times include 8-60 by RL Chase in 2019 and 8-63 by R Herath in 2016.
India is represented by Kumble and debutant Hirwani. (Another famous debutant Bob Massie had bowled in the third innings).
Finally we look at career figures for bowling in the fourth innings of wins:
Best bowling averages in wins in the 4th innings (Minimum 1500 balls bowled):
These are all the 25 bowlers who crossed the cutoff of 1500 balls bowled.
McGrath leads here with 14.24, followed by Herath, Ashwin and Kumble.
The best by current players are Ashwin (16.03), MM Ali, Starc , Ishant Sharma, Broad, Anderson and a few more with 1500+ balls bowled.
The best averages for India are by Ashwin, Kumble, Ishant Sharma, Jadeja and Harbhajan.
The best economy rates are by Illingworth (1.70) and Jadeja
The best strike rates are by Waqar Younis and MM Ali (32.9 with Waqar slightly ahead).
The fourth-innings chase is often regarded as the ultimate challenge for a batter. Let us see who have done the best in successful chases.
Most runs: (400+):
GC Smith is the clear leader here. He also has the most centuries (4) and most 50+ scores (10, followed by contemporaries Hayden, Ponting and JL Langer with 7). Also note CG Greenidge’s 214*.
Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag have the most runs for India.
Williamson and Karunaratne are the only current players here, with Amla, Cook and Younis from recent years.
Bradman is not here (but when he batted, a fourth innings chase was often not needed by Australia).
Highest scores in these cases (115 and above):
A total of 76 centuries have been scored here.
Only two double centuries, with KR Mayers scoring his on debut. The next highest in recent years was 153* by K Perera in 2019. There are Morris and Bradman in the same Test at Leeds in 1948, which was the only successful 400+ chase until India followed in 1976. (Years later, MA Butcher emulated Bradman’s 173* at Leeds).
The highest from India are not in the above list.
Viswanath (112) and Gavaskar (102) made their centuries in the same match in 1976, while Tendulkar and Laxman have made 103*.
Highest averages (Minimum 15 innings):
These 21 entries are the only ones with 15 or more innings. GC Smith leads here as well, with Ponting close behind.
From the recent past there are Cook and Amla. Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag represent India.
Kisrsten and Dravid are among those who did not score a century, although Hutton has a 98*.
We will take up bowling in 4th-innings wins in the next part.
we had explored an all-MG route between Delhi and Madras which existed in 1976, as well as the extremities of metre gauge at Kot Kapura and Tiruchendur at that time,
In 1976, the extremities of metre gauge were Varvala (near Okha) in the west and Lekhapani (near Ledo) in the east. These were also the extremities of IR as broad gauge had not spread to these areas yet.
Here, we travel from Okha (the western-most terminus) to Lekhapani.
Names are as they were in 1976. There do not seem to have been any instances of inflated distances on this route.
WEST TO EAST BY METRE GAUGEIN 1976
Km
0
Okha
29
Dwarka
141
Kanalus
166
Jamnagar
247
Rajkot
289
Wankaner
365
Surendranagar
428
Viramgam
493
Mahesana
563
Palanpur
616
Abu Road
781
Marwar Jn
869
Beawar
921
Ajmer
1001
Phulera
1056
Jaipur
1147
Bandikui
1244
Bharatpur
1272
Achhnera
End of WR
1307
Mathura
1358
Hathras Road
1412
Kasganj
1520
Farukhabad
1660
Kanpur Central
1731
Lucknow
1763
Barabanki
1791
Burhwal
1852
Gonda
2006
Gorakhpur
2076
Bhatni
2125
Siwan
2185
Chhapra Jn
2240
Sonpur
2245
Hajipur
2316
Bachwara
2332
Barauni
2388
Khagaria
2511
Katihar
End of NER
2551
Barsoi
2606
Kishanganj
2713
Siliguri Jn
2761
New Mal
2876
Alipurduar Jn
2948
Fakiragram
2985
New Bongaigaon
3095
Rangiya
3158
Gauhati
3250
Chaparmukh
3339
Lumding
3408
Dimapur
3516
Mariani
3570
Simaluguri
3671
Tinsukia
3725
Ledo
3734
Lekhapani
NFR
As you can see, this route passes through only three of the existing zones at that time.
It passed through the states of GJ, RJ, UP, BR, WB, AS and NL.
While the Sonpur-Muzaffarpur-Samastipur-Barauni section was already broad gauge, most of the long-distance trains continued to run on MG as the BG lines were too limited in these areas.
The Ledo-Lekhapani section had very limited services of one pair of trains per day. It was opened in the late 1950s after conversion of a privately-owned 2’0″ NG line. Later, it was not found worthwhile to convert to BG so Ledo remains the eastern-most passenger station. The BG line continues a little further east to Tirap Siding where coal is loaded on goods trains.
A possible set of trains for this route (from 1976) are:
Okha-Mahesana Janata Express to Mahesana
Various express trains to Jaipur or Bandikui.
Various express/passenger trains to Achhnera or Agra Fort.
Vaishali Express to Siliguri. (Yes, at that time it started from Agra Fort).
Various express trains to Tinsukia (Assam Mail was direct, otherwise change at NBQ).
Various passenger trains to Ledo.
One passenger train to Lekhapani.
Today, we have through BG trains from Gujarat to Assam.
The first surprise here is that Bradman does not appear. Perhaps he did not bat enough in the third innings.
The leading batsman PBH May is a bit of a surprise. He is followed by JH Kallis and DCS Compton.
No current player appears in the top 10. The only players from recent times are K Sangakkara who retired in 2015 and HM Amla (2017). Batting in the third innings must have become more difficult in recent times.
From India there are M Amarnath and VVS Laxman.
Now for the fourth innings:
The cutoff here is 40.00.
Headed by Boycott, Gavaskar and Hobbs.
Current players here are KS Williamson (at 7), Kohli (at 8) besides recent player Younis Khan (at 9).
Other current players include AD Mathews (has he retired from Tests?), DA Warner, DM Bravo, Shakib Al Hasan, Asad Shafiq and R Taylor.
From India there are Gavaskar and Kohli in the top 10, followed by Dravid and Laxman.
It would seem that recent players have coped better with the fourth innings than with the third innings.
Another interesting topic to study would be the batters and bowlers who have done best in the fourth innings.
No Test matches for a while, so we can do some overall reviews.
Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 50.00):
Mr 99.94 is well known, but No 2 has already been forgotten. No 3 is fast closing in on No 2’s 61.87. The only other current player in the top 10 is No 6 with 60.80.
The highest for India is by VG Kambli (!) at 54.20. Something similar to the case of AC Voges.
From India, there are also Tendulkar, Dravid, Gavaskar and Kohli.
Among current players, there are SPD Smith, M Labuschagne, KS Williamson, V Kohli and JE Root (who just manages 50+).
In following posts we will look at batting averages across innings.
With the near-complete removal of metre gauge from all important routes starting from the late 1970s, it would be a surprise to younger railfans that as late as 1976 it was possible to travel from Delhi Jn to Madras Egmore wholly by metre gauge. There was, of course, no such train but by a series of reasonably good MG expresses it was possible to make this journey of 2772 km. (In contrast, the standard GT express route would be 2182 km from Delhi Jn to Madras Central).
Let us begin our journey from Delhi Jn. I have taken the distances from the 1976 All India Time Table. Spelling of names are from that period. Inflated distances were being charged between Khandwa and Hingoli, so I have taken actual distances.
Between Rewari and Phulera I have taken the shorter route via Ringas rather than via Jaipur.
Km
0
Delhi Jn
5
Delhi Serai Rohilla
31
Gurgaon
83
Rewari
NR ends
185
Nim-Ka-Thana
232
Ringas
298
Phulera
378
Ajmer
402
Nasirabad
567
Chittaurgarh
620
Nimach
753
Ratlam
872
Indore
893
Mhow
1011
Khandwa
WR ends
1175
Akola
1314
Hingoli
1394
Purna
CR ends
1535
Nizamabad
1696
Secunderabad
1704
Kacheguda
1809
Mahbubnagar
1940
Kurnool Town
1993
Dronachellam
2049
Guntakal
SCR ends
2117
Anantapur
2151
Dharmavaram
2296
Madanapalle Road
2379
Pakala
2409
Chittoor
2452
Katpadi
2462
Vellore Cantt
2545
Tiruvannamalai
2613
Villupuram
2716
Chengalpattu
2747
Tambaram
2772
Madras Egmore
SR
Perhaps someone can look at the timetables of that period and see the timings, and then arrive at a timetable for the proposed Delhi-Madras MG Express.
It would pass through DL, HR, RJ, MP, MH, AP and TN. (TG did not exist then).
From the timetables of that period, this trip should have been possible with changes at Ajmer, Secunderabad, Pakala and Villupuram. But there may have been long waiting times at these places.
Suggested trains: Delhi-Ahmedabad JJ Express, Ajmer-Kacheguda Passenger, SC-Tirupati Venkatadri Express up to Pakala, various passenger trains to Villupuram, various express trains to Madras Egmore.
The train with the longest run on this route was the Ajmer/Kacheguda Passenger with 1326 km.
Appendix: North to South on Metre Gauge.
At that time, Jammu Tawi was the northern-most station, but the northern-most MG station was Kot Kapura.
Similarly, Trivandrum Central was on BG since early 1976 and was the southern-most station. This was about 2 km south of Tiruchendur’s parallel of latitude. That was the southern-most MG station.
We now look at the “Northern Extension” from Rewari to Kot Kapura:
Km
0
Rewari
83
Bhiwani
143
Hisar
225
Sirsa
300
Bhatinda
343
Kot Kapura
And the “Southern Extension” from Villupuram to Tiruchendur:
Km
0
Villupuram
55
Vriddhachalam
109
Ariyalur
178
Tiruchchirapalli
271
Dindigul
333
Madurai
376
Virudunagar
461
Maniyachi
490
Tirunelveli
552
Tiruchendur
So our fictional North-South MG Express would run from Kot Kapura to Tiruchendur via Rewari and Villupuram. We can see from the above distance tables that it would come to be
2782-83+343-159+552 = 3435 Km
Coming soon: West to East by Metre Gauge in 1976 (Okha to Lekhapani)
Also note:
From the above table, we can see the route of a Delhi-Secunderabad MG train, besides one for Secunderabad-Madras.
Also Delhi-Bangalore, which would deviate from the above route at Dharmavaram and proceed south. In 1974, Trivandrum could also be reached by MG via Virudunagar and Quilon. By 1976, Quilon-Trivandrum was BG.
For a long time, Waqar Younis was the only who had crossed this barrier. Later. “GOAT” Lyon caught up, and now Kemar Roach:
There are as many as 54 Test players who have made 1000 runs without scoring a century. Some have managed a century practically at the end of their Test career (e.g. Kumble, Vaas).
Today there are three players with 2000 runs and no centuries:
Warne’s 3000+ looks safe here, unless Dickwella plays long enough without a century. He does hold the record of 18 fifties without a century, ahead of Chauhan with 16.
abn397 