Review of India-South Africa Tests (2019)-2

Hope you have read Part 1.

We now move to Bowling Records:

Most Wickets (15 or more):

The most wickets by current players are 53 by Ashwin and 42 by Jadeja.

The most 5-fors are 5 by Steyn and Ashwin. No one has taken more than one 10-for.

Best innings bowling (all instances of 6wi and above):

The only major performance in this series is Ashwin’s 7-145. Note Klusener’s debut performance in 1996 – ironically he never took a five-for again.

Best match bowling (all instances of 8wm and above):

Again, the only instance from this series is from Ashwin with 8-189.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

The best bowling averages are by Donald and Jadeja, the best economy rates by Pollock and Jadeja and the best strike rates by Steyn and Donald. Also note that the best averages for Indian bowlers are by the current players Jadeja and Ashwin.

Fielding records:

Most dismissals (12 and above):

While Boucher has the most dismissals, de Villiers has the most by a fielder (25) followed by Kallis (25).

Most innings dismissals (5):

All by keepers, including 5 + 5 by Saha in 2018.

Most match dismissals (6 and above):

Saha has the record of 10. No fielder has more than 6.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500)

Boucher’s dismissal rate is far ahead of the others, followed by Dhoni. Among fielders, the best is by the “hybrid” de Villiers followed by GC Smith. du Plessis has the best among current players.

All-round performances (Minimum 20 innings batted and 2000 balls):

The only genuine all-rounder here is Pollock. Kallis does not seem to have bowled much against India.

All-round match performances (Fifty and five-for):

On expected lines, though one might expect to see Kallis and Jadeja. The lesser-known Boje has the best performance here.

 

All-round match performances in the World Cup

Here is a list of all instances of 40+ runs and 4+ wickets in World Cup matches from 1975 up to June 24, 2019:

While some of these figures seem impressive, most of them have come against weak teams (if not minnows, teams which did not go beyond the first round). The exceptions are Flintoff (E v Ire), and Russell (WI v E). We already know that Afg will not be in the second round in 2019.

The only instances of 50/5wi are by Yuvraj Singh (I v Ire, 2011) and Shakib Al Hasan (BD v Afg, 2019).

Both of them have had impressive all-round performances throughout the tournament. Yuvraj was Man of the Series in 2011, when India won. Yuvraj had 362 runs and 15 wickets in 2011. Shakib has (at the time of writing on June 24) 471 runs and 10 wickets. He and David Warner (447 runs) seem to be main contenders for Man of the Series now.

In 1999, L Klusener had 281 runs and 17 wickets which earned him the Man of the Series award. His team lost narrowly in the semi-final.

 

Best debut bowling against India

The second Test at Centurion was noted for various things such as silly runouts and young Ngidi’s bowling. Here we look at the best bowling figures on debut against and for India (all figures as of 17 Jan 2018).

Best against India-innings (5wi): 

Ngidi is in 5th position here, while his compatriot Klusener leads. That was to remain Klusener’s best in Tests, as in the case of Lever. Krezja’s effort came in a defeat for his team, and he played only one Test after this. Hazlewood is another current player in this list, while B Lee, like Bedser, had a long career.

Bedser and Pollard made their debut together. BR Taylor remains the only one in all Tests to make a century and take a fiver on debut. We will come to Lever’s similar record in a moment.

Best against India-match (7wm):

The luckless Krezja tops this table. Bedser is second, and he followed with another 11-wicket haul in his second Test to start a long career for England. His partner Pollard is also here, though he had a relatively short career. Ngidi is relatively lower in this table as he took only one wicket in the first innings.

Hazlewood is the only other current player to appear here. Other famous names include B Lee and Trueman.

In an odd case of symmetry, JK Lever was the only one in all Tests to score a fifty and take a ten-for on debut. India’s S Venkataraghavan was in the Indian team on both occasions.

We also look at the corresponding figures for Indian bowlers on debut.

Best for India-innings (5wi):

Hirwani steals the show here. He had a slightly better career than RAL Massie, who also took 16 wickets on debut. Ashwin and Shami are in the current team, as is Mishra from recent times. Nissar’s effort came in India’s first-ever Test.

Best for India-match (7wm):

Hirwani again leads, with the best match figures in all Tests by a debutant. His 16-136 was just ahead of Massie’s 16-137. Shami, Ashwin and Mishra appear here as well. Doshi and Yadav had moderately successful careers.