Stats: AB de Villiers records a rare golden duck via run out in Test history

AB de Villiers might be one of the fastest runners in the sport but the frequency of him getting run out, especially in the crunch moments, is quite high. His love with the run outs carried over his career due to poor judgement while running by his partners or by himself. A similar sight was repeated during the ongoing Test match as South Africa‘s No.4 had to depart without a run to his name. He walked out to bat when the Saffers were 39/2 while chasing 417 but couldn’t last more than one over.

South Africa’s last hope in this chase evaporated with De Villiers, who scored an unbeaten 71 in the first innings, getting run out facing only one ball. Aiden Markram pushed a Nathan Lyon’s delivery towards David Warner at square leg and De Villiers raced for a single. By the time Markram sent back his senior partner, Warner fired a throw to Nathan Lyon who did no mistake in disturbing the stumps. The 34-year-old lost his balance in returning to the bowler’s end and even a dive couldn’t save him from getting out.

This was the 6th time AB de Villiers got run out in the Test format; the joint 2nd most times by a South African. John Waite got out via run out in Test cricket on seven occasions. Overall, this was De Villiers’ 29th dismissal in International cricket via run out which are the most such dismissals among South Africans surpassing Jacques Kallis’ 28 runouts. This was the 8th Test duck for AB de Villiers with four of them in the last 12 innings.

De Villiers became only the 4th South African to bag a golden duck via runout in Test cricket. Dale Steyn was the last of the four who had a similar dismissal in the Cape Town Test against West Indies in 2015. Two other Saffers got run out without facing a delivery in a Test inning. De Villiers is also the 3rd player to bag a golden duck via run out while batting at No.4 in this format. With this dismissal, ABD joined the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

South Africa players to bag Golden/Diamond Ducks via runouts in Test cricket:

Players with Golden/Diamond Ducks via runouts while batting at No.4 in Test cricket:

(Stats as on March 4, 2018)

(Note: Alan Kippax, Albert Rose-Innes and Neil Adcock are diamond ducks)