SA v Eng 2nd Test - Statistical Highlights

The New Year’s Test at Cape Town ended in a pale draw without even completion of 3 innings. The run feast at the Newlands was initiated by England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes’ trashing the South African bowlers with Johnny Bairstow at the other end. Especially, it was Stokes who went crazy against all the bowlers on 2nd day morning. The number of balls that he defended could well be counted on fingers and that even surprised the viewers. His innings of 258 came to an end as he got run out due to a clever throw from AB de Villiers, who dropped Stokes on the same delivery. England declared as soon as Bairstow completed his 150 with their scorecard reading a mammoth 629/6.

Later South Africa responded well after a couple of early wickets. Captain Hashim Amla had a couple of good stands with AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis. Amla went on to score his 4th Test double ton. Later Temba Bavuma reduced the deficit with his maiden century playing out with the lower order.

Amla’s declaration in final hour on Day 4 surprised everyone until their bowlers reduced England to 119/6 an hour to Tea on the final day. However, a steady rain in the final session took away what could have been an exciting finish. Here we look at all possible stats recorded during the game.

Here are the Statistical highlights of the SA v Eng 2nd Test:

4 – This is only the 4th instance where 600+ scores have been recorded in first two innings of the match.

74.47 – The average runs per wicket in the Test match was 74.47. This is the highest average in a Test match in South Africa by a comfortable margin.

2 – South Africa declared 2 runs short of England’s total. This is the 2nd narrowest deficit in the instances of declarations made by 2nd batting teams. The narrowest deficit was India declaring 1 run short of England’s total in 1982 at Kanpur.

258 – Ben Stokes’ 258 is the highest individual score by a No.6 batsman and 2nd highest individual score after Don Bradman’s 270 (at No.7) for a batsman batting at No.6 or lower.

163 – Balls taken by Ben Stokes to complete his double century. This is the 2nd fastest double century in Test cricket after Nathan Astle’s double ton in 153 balls in 2002 at Christchurch against England.

196 – Ben Stokes took 196 balls to complete his 250, the fastest 250 in Test cricket. Stokes overhauled Virender Sehwag’s 250 in 207 balls against Sri Lanka at Mumbai (BS) in 2009.

135 – Ben Stokes took 135 balls for his 150. This is the fastest 150 by an England batsman in Test cricket. He overhauled Marcus Trescothick’s 150 against Bangladesh in 2005, which came in just 146 balls.

105 – Ben Stokes century came off 105 balls. This is the 2nd fastest century by an England batsman outside home. The fastest record is held by Kevin Pietersen who scored it off 88 balls against West Indies in 2009 at Port of Spain.

130 – Ben Stokes made 130 runs in the 1st session i.e., in pre-lunch session on day 2. These are the most runs made in pre-lunch session in Test cricket. Previous best was 123 by England’s Le Ames against South Africa in 1935 at The Oval. Overall, these are 7th most runs scored by a player in a session.

196 – England scored 196 runs in the pre-lunch session on day 2. These are the 2nd most runs made in pre-lunch session in Test cricket. Highest is 215/1 by South Africa against India in 2010 at Centurion.

130.2 – Ben Stokes’ strike rate in the 1st innings was 130.2. This is the highest strike rate for a player who has scored a double ton in Test cricket.

11 – Ben Stokes’ 11 sixes in 1st innings is the joint 2nd most by a batsman in a Test innings and most by an England batsman.

399 – Partnership stand of 399 between Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow during 1st innings was the highest partnership in Test cricket for the 6th wicket and joint 12th highest stand for any wicket in Test cricket.

2 – Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow’s partnership stand of 399 is the 2nd highest stand for any wicket in Test cricket for England. This is also the 2nd highest stand in Tests ended by a runout.

6.91 – Stokes-Bairstow’s partnership run rate of 6.91 is the highest run rate for a 200+ partnership in Test cricket. Previous best was 6.88 by Australia’s Mathew Hayden – Adam Gilchrist against Zimbabwe at Perth in 2002.

280 – Stokes-Bairstow stand took 280 balls to bring up the 300-run partnership milestone. This is the fewest balls taken by a pair to complete 300 run stand in Test innings. Previous best was 343 by India’s Virender Sehwag–Rahul Dravid against Pakistan at Lahore in 2006.

150* – Johnny Bairstow’s 150* in 1st innings is the 3rd highest score by an England wicketkeeper in Test cricket.

4.99 – England innings run rate of 4.99 in 1st innings was the 2nd highest run rate in a Test innings with more than 600 runs scored in it. Highest is 5.01 by Australia against Zimbabwe at Perth in 2002.

312 – England scored 312 runs on day 2 in just 38.5 overs. In overall, they scored 358 against the 2nd new ball in 45.5 overs.

8.03 – England’s run rate on day 2 is 8.03. This is the highest run rate for a team in a day with at least 200 runs scored in the day’s play. Previous was 6.80 by South Africa against Zimbabwe in 2005 also at Cape Town when they scored 340 in just 50 overs.

1 – England’s 1st innings was the 1st time when two batsmen of No.6 or lower position scored 150 and more runs in the same innings.

365 – Hashim Amla scored a fifty in Test cricket exactly after 365 days. The last he scored was against West Indies also coming on 3rd January in 2015 and also at Cape Town.

453 – A total of 453 runs had been scored on 2nd day’s play. Which makes it the most runs scored in a single day in Test matches played in South Africa and also the most in a single day in the African continent.

11 – Hashim Amla became the 1st batsman in Test history to bat for 11 or more hours on 3 different occasions.

152 – Innings required by Hashim Amla to complete 7000 Test runs. He is the 4th fastest South African to reach the milestone.

477 – Balls faced by Hashim Amla in their 1st innings. These are the most balls faced by a South African captain in a Test innings.

172 – Innings required by AB de Villiers to complete 8000 Test runs. He is the 4th fastest South African to reach the milestone.

1006 – James Anderson has so far bowled 1006 maiden overs in Test cricket. He is only the 13th bowler and 2nd England player to earn 1000 maiden overs in Test cricket.

100 – South Africa – England Test match was Aleem Dar’s 100th Test match as Umpire. He became only the 3rd Umpire to officiate 100 Test matches.