England v South Africa 2017: 1st Test, Day 1 – Statistical Highlights

England made an impeccable turnaround on the first day of Lord’s Test under their new Test captain Joe Root, who led his side from the front. They lost 4 wickets in the first session for just 76 runs after electing to bat first on a track which was doing a bit at the start. But Root backed his decision with a brilliant unbeaten 184 guiding his side to finish the day strongly on 357/5. Ben Stokes with 56 and Moeen Ali with 61* played crucial parts in their team’s recovery.

Here we look at all the stats and records created during the day’s play.

4 – The last 4 Test captains for England: Joe Root, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss. All the 4 scored a century on their debut Test as captain.

6 – Number of England captains including Joe Root who have scored a century on their Test captaincy debut. Root is the 30th player overall to score a hundred in his maiden game as skipper.

12.5 – Alastair Cook’s batting average in Tests against Vernon Philander. Cook has scored 50 runs against Philander and has been dismissed 4 times.

17 – Number of innings Joe Root needed to complete 1000 Test runs at the Lord’s; the fewest by any player. Andrew Strauss needed 19 innings to complete 1000 Test runs at Lord’s.

39 – Number of fifty-plus scores Joe Root has scored in Test cricket so far; the most by any player since his debut. Steven Smith and David Warner have scored 38 fifty-plus scores each in Tests in this period.

184* – Joe Root’s unbeaten 184 is the highest score by an England captain on Test captaincy debut. He overhauled Alastair Cook’s 173 vs Bangladesh in 2010. Overall, Root’s innings is the 4th highest for anyone on their Test captaincy debut.

184* – Joe Root’s 184 runs on day 1 are the 2nd most runs scored on the first day as a Test captain. Clem Hill scored 191 runs for Australia in 1910 at Sydney against South Africa.

2008 – Last time before Joe Root, an England captain batted at No.4 in Test cricket was Kevin Pietersen in 2008 against India at Mohali.