More batting feats on Test debut

In the past few posts we have looked at those who scored a century on debut and never scored another century. In some cases they did not even score a fifty. Here we look at some other points of interest:

Most runs on debut without a century (112 and more):

The first one is not so well known, and his 92 on debut remained his highest Test score in his 21 Tests: https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/bruce-laird-6250

The second, Clive Lloyd, scored many centuries and was one of the most successful batsmen and captains of the West Indies.

Fakhar Zaman is the most recent to do so (in 2018) but has played only 3 Tests with a highest score of 94.

There are many other famous names such as SM Gavaskar (highest score by an Indian player) and FM Worrell.

Not everyone here scored two fifties on debut. There are several with 95+ scores, the highest being 98 by AC Agar for Aus in 2013. This is the highest Test score by any No 11 batsman.

There are a mixture of well-known and not so well-known players here.

Similarly, we look at cases of

Most runs on debut without a 50-plus score

Led by Lee Germon (89) who became one the very few recent players to captain his team on debut. Ultimately he scored one fifty in his 12 Tests.

Most of the players here are lesser-known. In recent years S Muthusamy was unbeaten in both innings. (However, the record for two unbeaten innings on debut is 128* and 50* by Azhar Mahmood in 1997.

The best for India is 80 (45 and 35*) by Shubham Gill in 2020. Earlier the best for India was 74 (33 and 41) by Murali Vijay in 2008.

One more list we look at is

Most runs on debut with a century and a fifty:

The highest instance is 216 by Ranjitsinhji, who was also the first to score a century and 50+ on debut. The most recent is 170 by Shreyas Iyer in 2021. He is the only Indian player to achieve this.

RE Redmond would be known by anyone familiar with cricket trivia. After Ranji we have Umar Akmal (204), CG Greenidge (200) and PA Gibb (199). F du Plessis is another from recent times.

Kings of the fourth-innings chase (Revised-Sep 2021)-Pt 1

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.

Lord Mayers of Chattogram

The West Indies has had many levels of aristocracy, such as Baron Constantine and Sir Frank Worrell. And the calypso men such as Lord Kitchener, Lord Beginner and Lord Relator.

So the tabloids in Barbados may well refer to Kyle Mayers as Lord Mayers of Chattogram.

(They might also be interested in what their heroine Rihanna says about India 🙂 )

Also his partner Nkrumah Bonner whose parents must have named him after the Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/348056.html

https://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/314650.html

Both of them have been prominent in domestic cricket for a while, but would probably not been on this tour if not for Covid.

Here are some of the records set during the chase of 395:

Most runs on debut (innings scores):

5th position here among the 6 who scored 200+

Most runs in a match on debut:

4th among the 12 who have made 200 in their debut match. Yasir Hameed did not score a century after making two on debut. Others such as Foster, Umar Akmal and Kuruppu did not last long, and Rowe somewhat under-performed though he played Tests up to 1980. He did make 302 against England in 1974.

Most runs in 4th innings on debut:

Mayers does top this list, surpassing India’s AA Baig who had provided a small silver lining to the 5-0 sweep in 1959. None of the other debutants except Yasir Hameed figured in successful chases.

Highest partnerships in successful chases (not only for debutants):

6th in this all-time list. No other instance where both were debutants. Gilchrist was playing his 2nd Test.

Most runs in unbeaten innings in successful run chase:

Here too Mayers is far ahead of the rest. No one else scored a century under these conditions. Next in line is a recent player Bancroft who was part of the Smith-Warner axis and probably will not play again.

This list also includes Lloyd, Lewis and Gimblett against India, besides Gavaskar for India against the West Indies. Maybe in some cases they hit the winning runs, but we need to check accounts of the match or commentary transcripts if available. It can be seen that Mayers did hit the winning run (a single).

Finally, we look at the cases of unbeaten 100+ scores in successful run chases (all instances, not only debutants):

Here Mayers is second only to Greenidge. India has Tendulkar and VVS near the bottom. There are also Haynes, Richards and Mark Taylor against India. But the next highest debutant after Mayers is Bancroft, as described above.

Tail piece: The WI captain Kraigg Brathwaite recorded his first win. His first 5 Tests as captain were losses.

Two fifties in a match in India-WI Tests

GH Vihari became the latest to make two scores of 50+ in a Test for India against the Wes Indies. Here is the full list of those who have achieved this:

This includes 3 matches of Gavaskar in the 1971 series, where he made his debut on 06/03/1971. He is the only debutant here.

In 1962, Umrigar added a fiver to his two fifty-plus scores.

Two cases of centuries in both innings by Gavaskar (1971 and 1978).

The corresponding performances for the West Indies against India:

Only 23 such performances, compared to 33 by India.

They include Weekes’s pair of centuries in 1948, as part of his five in  successive innings.

And Sobers added a fiver to his century and fifty in 1962.

Lloyd and Greenidge were making their debuts.

Only Weekes made centuries in both innings.

More on Test nineties

Hope you have read the previous post about 99s.

Nineties in both innings:

Clem Hill was particularly fond of 90s as he scored 99 followed by 98 and 97 mentioned above.

Nineties on debut:

While Chipperfield and Christiani later scored centuries, Asim Kamal finished with his 99 on debut as his top score. VH Stollmeyer made 96 in his only Test innings, which was unfortunately just before WW2 broke out. His younger brother Jeff Stollmeyer had a longer run and captained the West Indies.

Another point of interest is LJ Tancred’s 97 which was the highest score on debut by a South African-until Kepler Wessels scored a century on debut  for Australia in 1982-83. The first “genuine” century on debut by a South African was 163 by AC Hudson in the comeback Test against WI in 1991-92.

A number of famous names narrowly missed a century on debut. They include Redpath, Worrell, Ponting, Dravid, SP Fleming  and FS Jackson. Many lesser names scored a century on debut and did nothing much afterwards.

PA Gibb (93 and 106) and CG Greenidge (93 and 107) scored a 90 and 100 on debut.

Several players have made two 99s. The latest addition to this club was Misbah-ul-Haq.

If you take all scores between 90 and 99, the record of 10 is shared by Dravid, Tendulkar and Steve Waugh. Next is MJ Slater with 9, with de Villiers, Inzamam and Kallicharan with 8.