South Africa vs England, 2019-20: 2nd Test, Day 4 – Sibley's maiden hundred, Anderson goes past Pollock, Stokes’ quick-fire knock and more stats

England batters showed urgency on the 4th day as they scored 173 runs in 32 overs while Dominic Sibley held one end with an unbeaten maiden century. He scored 133 off 311 balls with 20 fours while Ben Stokes smashed 7 fours and 3 sixes on his way to 47-ball 72. England declared their innings at 391/8 and set a 438-run target. Debutant Pieter Malan scored an unbeaten 63 by sharing 50-run partnerships with Dean Elgar (34) and Hamza (18). South Africa finished the day on 126/2 with another 312 runs needed to take a 2-0 lead.

All the statistical highlights from the 4th day’s play in the New Year Test at the Newlands:

Anderson goes past Pollock:

92 – James Anderson has bagged 92 wickets across 26 Test matches against South Africa; the most wickets for any player in South Africa-England Test matches. Anderson went past Shaun Pollock’s tally of 91 wickets by dismissing Zubayr Hamza.

A rare hundred by a visiting opener:

133* – The unbeaten 133 by Dominic Sibley is the highest score by an England opener in South Africa since 2006. During the 2005 Johannesburg Test, Andrew Strauss scored 147 in the first innings while Marcus Trescothick

2014 – The last instance of a visiting opener scoring a hundred in South Africa was back in the 2014 Port Elizabeth Test when West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite scored 106. Between Sibley and Brathwaite’s tons, South Africa hosted 26 Tests with Rory Burns’ 84 in Centurion being the highest score by a visiting opener.

1910 – The last England opener before Sibley to score a Test ton at the Newlands was 187 by Sir Jack Hobbs way back in 1910. In the last 12 years, David Warner is the only other visiting player to score hundred in Cape Town. Warner scored centuries in both innings of the Test match played in 2014 here.

A quick-fire knock from Stokes:

153.19 – Ben Stokes’ batting strike rate of 153.19 during his 47-ball 72 is the 3rd highest in a Test innings for England. Andrew Flintoff scored 75 from 44 balls at 170.45 against New Zealand in 2002 Wellington Test while Sir Ian Botham had an SR of 163.88 during his unbeaten 59 off 36 also against NZ in the 1986 Oval Test.

Malan @ 2000:

2008* – Pieter Malan completed 2000 runs in first-class cricket at the Newlands. In 22 first-class matches at this venue, Malan has scored 2008 runs with help of 8 hundreds and 5 fifties at a solid average of 55.78 (As on day 4). This is the only venue where Malan scored over 1500 FC runs.