Eng v SA 1st Test - Statistical Highlights

South Africa ended their horrible year in Test format with yet another loss. This time, it was at their home with England at opposite side. Barring a couple of individual performances, South Africa didn’t put on a fight and didn’t look like troubling the opposition much after the first session of the game. Here we look at all possible stats recorded during the game.

Statistical Highlights of the Eng v SA 1st Test:

3 – South Africa recorded their 3rd consecutive defeat in Test cricket. Last time they lost 3 or more matches in a row was in 2009.

0 – South Africa didn’t record even one century partnership in 2015. This is only the 7th such instance where a team failed to record even one century stand in a calendar year in Test cricket even after playing 5 or more games. Last such instance was by Bangladesh in 2002.

4 – Steven Finn’s wicket in 1st innings was Dale Steyn’s 50th wicket in Test cricket against England. He now has 50 and more wickets against 4 different teams in Tests. He is the only South African to pick 50 or more wickets against 4 different teams in Tests.

38 – Number of Test matches without a stumping made by England. Bavuma’s stumping was first such wicket in Tests for England ever since Pujara’s stumping at Wankhede in 2012.

1997 – Last time a South African batsman before Dean Elgar carried his bat in Tests was Gary Kirsten in 1997 against Pakistan at Faisalabad. Overall he became 6th South African to carry the bat in Tests.

55.14 – Percentage of runs scored by Dean Elgar in South Africa’s 1st innings. This is the highest contribution by a South African batsman in a Test innings since their readmission in 1992.

13 – Fifty plus scores recorded by Joe Root in Test cricket in 2015. He equaled Virender Sehwag’s record for most fifty-plus scores in a calendar year in Tests. Sehwag scored 13 fifty plus scores in 2010.

1385 – Joe Root scored 1385 runs in Test cricket in 2015. Only Michael Vaughan with 1481 Test runs in 2002 scored more than Root among England batsmen.

5 – South Africa lost 5 out of the last 6 matches they played at Kingsmead, Durban.

1 – This is the first instance where Moeen Ali won a Man of the match award in Test cricket.

2 – This match is only the 2nd instance in Test cricket where England set a target of over 400 runs for South Africa. Last time was in 1947 at The Oval, where the match ended in a draw.

1965 – Dane Piedt became first South African off-spinner since 1965 to pick up a 5-wicket haul in a Test innings at home. Last was Harry Bromfield at Cape Town. Also, this is only the 3rd 5-wicket haul by a South African spinner at home since 1992.