Stats: Miguel Cummins bats out 95 minutes before registering a duck

Miguel Cummins came into the Windies’ squad for the first game of the 2-match Test series against India at home in place of injured Keemo Paul. He was the only Windies bowler during the first innings not to pick up a wicket and ended up conceding 49 runs in only 13 overs. However, he showed resilience with the bat as he was involved in a 9th wicket stand of 41 with the skipper Jason Holder. Cummins spent 95 minutes at the crease but did not score a run.

When Cummins eventually tried to open his account, on the 45th ball, he was cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja. Thus, Cummins recorded the most balls faced duck in Test cricket for the Windies. Keith Arthurton held this record when he got out for a 40-ball duck in the 1995 Lord’s Test against England. The 45-ball duck by Cummins is the 5th in the overall list of most balls faced duck in the longer format where ever the data of balls faced is recorded.

Most balls faced duck in Test cricket: (Where known)

The left-hander batted 95 minutes before getting out; which makes it the 2nd longest duck in the history of Test cricket. New Zealand’s Geoff Allott holds the record for scoring the most balls faced duck and also the longest batted duck in Test cricket. He bagged a duck after facing 77 balls in 101 minutes during the 1999 Auckland Test against South Africa. Stuart Broad came close to breaking this record in 2013 at the same venue. The England player faced 61 balls in 103 minutes while trying to save the game.

However, Broad got out scoring 6 runs from 77 balls when only 3.3 overs were remaining in the day. The pacer scored his first run on 62nd delivery he faced. Only John Murray took more deliveries to score first run in a Test innings as got off the mark on the 80th ball he faced during the 1963 Ashes Test in Sydney. The Eden Park hosted two out of three instances in Test cricket of a player spending 100+ minutes without scoring in an inning.

Longest batted duck in Test cricket: (Where known)

The other such effort was recorded by Peter Nevill during the 2016 Galle Test. The Australian keeper spent 109 minutes without scoring a run when he was batting on 9. Nevill faced a total of 90 balls in that period, the 2nd longest any player batted without scoring during a Test inning. Nevill and Steve O’Keefe batted 25.4 consecutive overs without scoring a run to save the game. No other team spent even 100 consecutive balls without a run scored off the bat during a Test inning.

Longest time without scoring a run during a Test inning: (Where known)

(Stats as on August 24, 2019)