Notes from the Johannesburg Test

This was the 6th Test played by India at this venue and their first defeat:

It is however difficult for South Africa and other teams to chase 200 or even 150 at this venue. Their 243/3 is their highest winning chase here. These are the only times it has happened:

Winning chases over 150 at Johannesburg:

The SA captain Dean Elgar was left on 96 not out at the end. There are several instances of being stranded in the 90s in a winning chase:

While there is only one 99 here, there are 98s by several including SC Ganguly and other famous names such as Hutton, GS Chappell and Atherton.

AL Wadekar was another Indian player who got up to the 90s when the target was reached.

Onwards to Cape Town:

India has never won at this venue. But if one fortress fell at Johannesburg, perhaps another can fall at Cape Town:

India vs SA at Cape Town:

India has 2 draws and 3 losses here.

Shardul Thakur’s record:

Here are the best innings bowling performances in India-South Africa Tests:

SN Thakur’s 7-61 in SA’s first innings was the best for India v SA. The previous best was 7-66 by R Ashwin at Nagpur in 2015. The previous best for India v SA in SA was 7-120 by Harbhajan Singh at Cape Town in 2011.

His match bowling figures of 8-108 were not so impressive.

Markram again

AK Markram has played 28 Tests. 17 were won by SA, 11 lost and none drawn.

His 28 Tests are the most played by anyone who has not seen a draw. Next is GA Lohmann from 19th-century England, whose 18 Tests included 15 wins and 3 losses.

Carrying bat through an innings for and against India

The full list of “carry-throughs” can be found here.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283149.html

This is a dynamic link. D Elgar is the latest addition to this list in the Test starting on 24/01/2018.

The very first “carry-through” was by SA’s AB Tancred was 26* out of 47 in the Test starting on 25/03/1889. This remains a record for the lowest such score, though there are a few more under 50. The highest was recorded about a month ago, when AN Cook made 244* out of 491 in the Test starting on 26/12/2017. There are a few other double centuries, one of which is listed below.

Anyway, Elgar was only the 5th opener to carry his bat through an innings against India.

1) Nazar Mohammed, 124*/331 at Lucknow in match starting on 23/10/1952. Pakistan won by 10 wickets, though India won the series 2-1. This was Pakistan’s first Test series. See note in 3) below.

2) WM Lawry (Australia’s captain), 49*/107 at Delhi, starting 28/11/1969. India won this Test by 7 wickets, though Australia won the series 3-1. Lawry also carried his bat through an innings in an Ashes Test in 1971, which Australia lost.

3) Mudassar Nazar, 152*/323 at Lahore, starting 23/01/1983. Drawn, while Pakistan won the series 3-0. This is the only instance in all Tests where a father and son have both carried their bats through an innings.

4) Saeed Anwar, 188*/316 at Kolkata, starting 16/02/1999. Pakistan won by 46 runs. This was part of the Asian Test Championship, which was finally won by Pakistan.

5) D Elgar, 86*/177 at Johannesburg, starting 24/01/2018. India won by 63 runs, though SA won the series 2-1. Elgar had done this earlier against England in 2015, in a match which SA lost.

There are only 4 such instances for Indian openers in Tests:

1) SM Gavaskar, 127*/286 v Pak at Faisalabad, starting 03/01/1983. Pakistan won by 10 wickets and the series 3-0. Mudassar Nazar returned the compliment later in the series, as mentioned above.

2) V Sehwag, 201*/329 v SL at Galle, starting 31/07/2008. India won by 170 runs, though SL won the series 2-1.

3) R Dravid, 146*/300 v Eng at the Oval, starting 18/08/2011. India lost by an innings and 18 runs, and lost the series 4-0 in a clean sweep.

4) C Pujara, 145*/312 v SL at Colombo (SSC) starting on 28/08/2015. India won by 117 runs and the series 2-1.