SA vs SL, 2020-21: 1st Test, Day 2 – South Africa's rare opening stand, Sri Lanka’s record total and more stats

South Africa managed to stay on top of the Centurion Test against Sri Lanka thanks to some pro-active batting on the second day. Sri Lanka got bowled out for 396 in their first innings out of which 340 runs came on the first day itself. In reply, Dean Elgar (95) and Aiden Markram (68) put on 141 for the first wicket in just 28.4 overs. From 200/1, the South African team lost three wickets in 26 balls to get reduced to 220/4. But Faf du Plessis (55*) and Temba Bavuma (41*) added an unbeaten 97-run stand for the 5th wicket to narrow down the deficit to 79 runs.

Here are all the statistical highlights from the first two days of the Centurion Test where more than 700 runs were aggregated:

End of South Africa’s drought of opening stands:

43 – The 141-run partnership between Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram is the first century opening stand for South Africa in 44 innings in Test cricket. The last 100+ stand of South Africa for the first wicket came in the 2017 Bloemfontein Test against Bangladesh when the same pair put on 243 in only 53.4 overs.

Sri Lanka’s record total:

396 – Sri Lanka’s total of 396 is now their highest total in Test cricket on South African soil. The previous highest Test total of Sri Lanka in South Africa was 342 during their 2nd innings of 2012 Cape Town Test.

340 – The 340 runs amassed by Sri Lanka on the first day are the 2nd most number of runs which South Africa conceded on the opening day of a home Test since their readmission to cricket in 1992. The highest is 372 runs by India for the loss of seven wickets on the first day of the Bloemfontein Test in 2001.

Sipamla starts with a 4-wicket haul:

4.75 – Lutho Sipamla’s economy rate of 4.75 is the highest for any South African while claiming 4-wicket haul on Test debut. Richard Snell had 4-fer in both innings of his debut Test against West Indies in 1992 at Bridgetown by conceding 4.61 and 4.62 economy rates.

In fact, Sipamla and Snell occupy top spots in the list of worst economy rates for any pacer while picking a 4-wicket haul on Test debut. Overall, six players have conceded runs at a worse economy for their 4-fer on Test debut, all of them being spin bowlers only.

2013 – The last South African pacer before Sipamla to bag a 4-wicket haul on Test debut in the first-innings was Kyle Abbott in the 2013 Centurion Test against Pakistan where he ended with figures of 7/29.

Markram’s boundary rush:

82.35 – Aiden Markram scored 56 runs via 14 fours during his 68-run knock. 82.35% of his total score came through boundaries which is the 3rd highest boundary proportion in a 50+ score by a South African in Test cricket.. Where boundaries data is known).

Herschelle Gibbs scored 84.35% of his runs through boundaries during his 147-run knock against Zimbabwe in the 2001 Harare Test while Boeta Dippenaar scored 84 runs through boundaries in his 100-run innings against New Zealand in the 2000 Johannesburg Test.

5 – Markram now has fifty-plus scores in each of his previous five innings in first-class cricket. Coming into the series, the opening batsman recorded scores of 75, 113, 121 and 149 across three FC games he played at the Centurion only.

A rare keeper-captain of South Africa:

2002 – Quinton de Kock is only the 6th wicketkeeper to be the captain of South Africa’s Test team and the first to do so since Mark Boucher in 2002.

1932 – The last instance of a South Africa’s keeper-captain batting in top five in Test cricket was Jock Cameron back in the 1932 Wellington Test against New Zealand. De Kock is also the first keeper-captain to bat in the top five in Test cricket since Mushfiqur Rahim in the 2017 Dhaka Test against Australia.

Elgar falls short of a ton:

1 – The 95-run knock was the maiden dismissal in the 90s in Test cricket for Dean Elgar as he converted his first 12 scores of 90s into hundreds. Elgar has most centuries in Test cricket before the first dismissal in the 90s as he went past Graeme Smith, whose first Test dismissal in the 90s came after 11 tons.

A rare dismissal for South African skipper:

2008 – Quinton de Kock falling to Wanidu Hasaranga was the first dismissal for a South African captain in a home Test off a leg-spinner since the start of 2009. The last such dismissal came when Graeme Smith was dismissed by the West Indian leg-spinner Rawl Lewis in the 2008 Cape Town Test.