India vs South Africa, 2019: 2nd Test, Day 1 – Mayank's rare achievement, Kohli-Rahane pair's milestone, Pujara's Test sixes and more stats

India dominated the first day’s play in Pune as Mayank Agarwal scored yet another ton to help India finish the day at 273/3. Mayank (108) and Cheteshwar Pujara (58) rescued the hosts with a 138-run stand for the 2nd wicket. Both the batsmen got out soon after their respective milestones. However, skipper Virat Kohli ensured India did not lose more wickets. He remained unbeaten on 63 at the end of day’s play. He will be looking to score his first Test ton of 2019 in his 50th Test as captain.

All the statistical highlights from the first day of the Pune Test match between India and South Africa:

A series for Indian openers:

4 – Number of centuries by Indian openers in this series thus far; the joint-most by Indian openers in a Test series. Sunil Gavaskar scored four tons apiece in the 1971 and 1978/79 series against West Indies while Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir struck two tons each during the 2009 home series against Sri Lanka.

Mayank joins a rare list:

3 – Mayank Agarwal became only the 3rd Indian to score centuries in the first two Test matches at home. Mohammad Azharuddin and Rohit Sharma are the other two players with this achievement. Rohit scored tons in his first two Test innings at home.

2 – Mayank is only the 2nd Indian opener to score centuries in back to back Test matches against South Africa. Virender Sehwag struck tons in both games of the 2-match Test series at home in 2010.

Kohli-Rahane @ 3000:

3052 – Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane completed 3000 runs as a pair in Test cricket. They are the 10th pair with 3000+ partnership runs for India. Their partnership average of 63.58 is the highest among the ten Indian pairs who have added 3000+ runs together in Test cricket.

Mayank’s favourite venue:

412 – Mayank Agarwal scored 412 runs across his last two first-class innings at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Mayank scored an unbeaten 304 against Karnataka in the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy season. Agarwal’s stellar form began with that triple ton which came after a pair against Hyderabad.

Pujara’s big-hitting:

3 – Number of sixes Cheteshwar Pujara has struck so far; the most by him in a Test series. He struck two maximums in the 2nd innings of the first Test and one on opening day in Pune. These three sixes are also the most by Pujara in a calendar year in Test cricket.

South Africa’s poor luck with the toss continues:

9 – South Africa lost their 9th consecutive toss in a Test match in Asia. In the previous eight Tests in Asia, the South Africans lost six matches while the other two ended in a draw. In fact, the Proteas also lost their toss in their previous five away Test matches and lost in all of them.