Stats: Keshav Maharaj breaks the 60-year old jinx

Keshav Maharaj quickly fitted into the South African Test side as their main bowler with his consistency and accuracy even on non-responsive tracks. The left-arm spinner already recorded some astonishing numbers and feats which the South Africans couldn’t do since their readmission to cricket in 1992. In the first of the 4-match Test series against Australia, Maharaj got a chance to play his home venue Kingsmead, Durban first time for the Proteas.

He already made the game a memorable one with a 5-wicket haul in the first innings to play a crucial in restricting the visitors to 351. This was Maharaj’s 4th five-wicket haul in the Test format; the joint-most by a South African spinner since their readmission to Cricket. He is currently equalled with Paul Adams with the 5-fer against the Aussies in Durban.

Among all South African spinners, only Hugh Tayfield (14) and Bert Vogler (5) took more 5-fers in Tests than Maharaj. This 5-fer by the left-arm spinner is only the 2nd by a South African spinner at home in the first innings since their cricket return. Paul Harris also had figures of 5/123 in the 2009 Centurion Test against England which was the 2nd innings of the game.

By taking a 5-fer in the first innings of a home Test, Maharaj became the first South African spinner to do in the last 60 years. Hugh Tayfield recorded figures of 5/120 in the Cape Town Test against Australia in 1957/58. The 28-year-old is only the 3rd spinner to bag a 5-wicket haul in the opening innings of a Durban Test match. Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett took 7/100 in the Test match played in 1936 against the home while Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan recorded bowling figures of 5/122 in the 2000 Test against the Saffers.

Maharaj is only the 3rd South African spinner to take a 5-fer in the opening innings of a Test since their return. Paul Adams had figures of 6/55 in the 1996 Kanpur Test against India and 5/37 against Bangladesh in the 2003 Chittagong Test. Imran Tahir’s 5/32 is the recent most event as the leg-spinner registered the figures in the 2013 Dubai Test against Pakistan.

Five-wicket hauls by the South African spinners in the first innings of a home Test:

(Stats as on March 2, 2018)

(Note:  Bonnor Middleton and Charlie Llewellyn are left-arm slow bowlers)