England v South Africa 2017 – Head to Head stats in Tests
The bilateral Test series between England and South Africa was named after the South African-born England player, Basil D'Oliveira in 2004.
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England v South Africa is one of the most frequent battles in the Test cricket as both the teams have faced each other 145 times in this format; the 3rd most after England-Australia and England-Windies despite South Africa’s absence from the International cricket for over 20 years.
The English’s dominance over the African side is clearly visible by their dictating record but the major part of it was played before South Africa’s break from International cricket. However, over the last 25 years, it is tough to say which side holds the lead with both the teams having a similar record, which is slightly tilted towards the Saffers.
Being the hosts England have a solid record at home over the visitors but since their re-entry in the International circuit, South Africa actually enjoys an upper hand over the hosts on English soil in the longer format.
Head to head record between England and South Africa in Test cricket:
| Host | Matches | England Won | South Africa Won | Draw |
| Overall | 145 | 58 | 32 | 55 |
| England | 64 | 27 | 13 | 24 |
| South Africa | 81 | 31 | 19 | 31 |
Since South Africa’s readmission in 1992:
| Host | Matches | England Won | South Africa Won | Draw |
| Overall | 43 | 12 | 14 | 17 |
| England | 20 | 6 | 8 | 11 |
| South Africa | 23 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Record by time period:
| Period | Matches | England Won | South Africa Won | Draw |
| 1800s | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 1901-1950 | 66 | 26 | 12 | 28 |
| 1951-1970 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 10 |
| 1994-2005 | 28 | 9 | 8 | 11 |
| 2008-2016 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Before readmission | 102 | 46 | 18 | 38 |
| After readmission | 43 | 12 | 14 | 17 |
The bilateral Test series between England and South Africa was named after the South African-born England player, Basil D’Oliveira in 2004. So far 5 series’ have been played on this name with the Proteas winning both the series hosted by England while the English side has won two of the three hosted by SA out of which one ended in a draw.
Bilateral series summary:
| Series | England Won | South Africa Won | Drawn | |
| Overall | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 |
| England | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 |
| South Africa | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 |
| Since readmission | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Basil D’Oliveira Trophy | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Among the top 10 lowest scores in the England-South Africa Tests, the top 9 are in the name of South Africa who were bowled out under 75 on 9 occasions by the English team. Seven times teams have managed to score 600+ totals in ENG-SA Tests with two of those coming in the Cape Town Test played last year.
Highest team totals in England-South Africa Tests:
| Team | Score | Overs | Inns | Ground | Date |
| South Africa | 682/6d | 177 | 2 | Lord’s | 31-Jul-2003 |
| England | 654/5 | 218.2×8 | 4 | Durban | 3-Mar-1939 |
| South Africa | 637/2d | 189 | 2 | The Oval | 19-Jul-2012 |
| England | 629/6d | 125.5 | 1 | Cape Town | 2-Jan-2016 |
| South Africa | 627/7d | 211 | 2 | Cape Town | 2-Jan-2016 |
| England | 608 | 149.5×8 | 1 | Johannesburg | 27-Dec-1948 |
| England | 604/9d | 162 | 2 | The Oval | 4-Sep-2003 |
Lowest team totals in England-South Africa Tests:
| Team | Score | Overs | Inns | Ground | Date |
| South Africa | 30 | 18.4×5 | 4 | Port Elizabeth | 13-Feb-1896 |
| South Africa | 30 | 12.3 | 2 | Birmingham | 14-Jun-1924 |
| South Africa | 35 | 22.4×5 | 4 | Cape Town | 1-Apr-1899 |
| South Africa | 43 | 28.2×4 | 3 | Cape Town | 25-Mar-1889 |
| South Africa | 47 | 47.1×4 | 2 | Cape Town | 25-Mar-1889 |
| South Africa | 58 | 26.1 | 1 | Lord’s | 10-Jun-1912 |
| South Africa | 72 | 50.1×8 | 4 | Cape Town | 1-Jan-1957 |
| South Africa | 72 | 33.4×8 | 4 | Johannesburg | 24-Dec-1956 |
| South Africa | 75 | 44.4 | 4 | Leeds | 29-Jul-1907 |
| England | 76 | 36.3 | 1 | Leeds | 29-Jul-1907 |
Individual records:
South Africa’s Bruce Mitchell and Shaun Pollock are the highest run-scorers and wicket-takers in the ENG-SA Tests with 2732 runs and 91 wickets respectively on their names. Among the current players, South Africa’s Hashim Amla is the highest scorer while the England pacer James Anderson is the top wicket-taker in ENG-SA Test matches.
Highest run-getters in England-South Africa Tests:
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | 100s | 50s |
| B Mitchell | South Africa | 30 | 57 | 2732 | 189* | 54.64 | 7 | 16 |
| HW Taylor | South Africa | 30 | 54 | 2287 | 176 | 44.84 | 7 | 13 |
| DCS Compton | England | 24 | 42 | 2205 | 208 | 53.78 | 7 | 11 |
| WR Hammond | England | 24 | 42 | 2188 | 181 | 62.51 | 6 | 14 |
| JH Kallis | South Africa | 31 | 51 | 2141 | 182* | 44.6 | 8 | 8 |
| GC Smith | South Africa | 21 | 39 | 2051 | 277 | 56.97 | 7 | 7 |
| AD Nourse | South Africa | 24 | 43 | 2037 | 208 | 55.05 | 7 | 9 |
| G Kirsten | South Africa | 22 | 35 | 1608 | 275 | 48.72 | 5 | 7 |
| HM Amla | South Africa | 17 | 30 | 1574 | 311* | 56.21 | 6 | 4 |
Highest wicket-takers in England-South Africa Tests:
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | SR | 5WI | 10WM |
| SM Pollock | South Africa | 23 | 42 | 91 | 6/39 | 8/80 | 23.73 | 62.8 | 3 | 0 |
| AA Donald | South Africa | 17 | 30 | 86 | 6/53 | 11/127 | 23.04 | 45.4 | 9 | 1 |
| SF Barnes | England | 7 | 14 | 83 | 9/103 | 17/159 | 9.85 | 25.5 | 12 | 6 |
| HJ Tayfield | South Africa | 15 | 24 | 75 | 9/113 | 13/192 | 22.1 | 70.4 | 7 | 1 |
| CL Vincent | South Africa | 18 | 30 | 72 | 6/51 | 8/149 | 27.31 | 62.9 | 3 | 0 |
| M Ntini | South Africa | 18 | 34 | 70 | 5/75 | 10/220 | 34.35 | 60.7 | 3 | 1 |
| JB Statham | England | 16 | 32 | 69 | 7/39 | 11/97 | 20.66 | 56.9 | 4 | 1 |
| GA Faulkner | South Africa | 17 | 30 | 68 | 7/84 | 9/75 | 21.64 | 45.3 | 4 | 0 |
| JM Anderson | England | 20 | 35 | 64 | 5/63 | 8/161 | 38.6 | 74.8 | 2 | 0 |
(Stats as on July 5, 2017)
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