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De Villiers's 18th ton and Zaheer's 300th Test wicket

December 23, 2013 11:02 IST
AB de Villiers of South Africa celebrates his century

Statistical highlights of the drawn first cricket Test between India and South Africa at the New Wanderers. 

# Faf du Plessis (134 off 309 balls) recorded his first hundred against India - his third in Test Cricket. His match-saving innings is the highest by a South African batsman in the fourth innings of a Test match against India, surpassing the 122 not out by Daryll Cullinan in the 1996-97 Johannesburg Test. 

# Plessis' had scored 110 not out vs Australia at Adelaide last year and 137 vs New Zealand at Port Elizabeth in 2013. 

# Plessis has now recorded two hundreds in drawn Tests.  He is averaging 61.58 after 10 Tests - the tally being 739 in fifteen innings.

# AB de Villiers (103 off 168 balls) posted his third hundred against India - his 18th century in Tests. He has recorded four hundreds in a calendar year for the second time - the first instance being in 2008. 

# In drawn Tests, de Villiers has recorded five centuries. He became the second batsman after Australia's Michael Clarke to post four hundreds in Tests this year. 

# De Villiers' tally of seven hundreds in international cricket in 2013 is the most by a batsman. 

# De Villiers and Mark Boucher share a South African record for most hundreds (five) as wicketkeeper.

Kohli received his second Man of the Match award in Tests

December 23, 2013 11:02 IST
Virat Kohli

The drawn Test is the third between South Africa and India at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. India's only win in four Tests at this venue is by 123 runs in December 2006. 

# The only team not to have lost a Test at the above venue is India. The recently concluded Test is the first drawn game at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg after 12 result-oriented Tests. 

# South Africa (450 for seven) have posted the second highest fourth innings total in a drawn Test, next only to England's 654 for five vs South Africa in the 1938-39 Durban Test. 

# South Africa's above score is their highest in the fourth innings of a Test match, eclipsing the 423 for seven in the drawn Oval Test vs England in 1947. The said total is the third highest in the fourth innings of a Test match - the highest being 654 for five by England against South Africa at Durban in 1938-39 and New Zealand's 451 vs England at Christchurch in 2001-02.  

# Alviro Petersen (76) posted his second highest score vs India in South Africa behind the 77 at Centurion in December 2010. In the 2009-10 Kolkata Test, he had posted 100. 

# Two South African players have scored hundreds in the fourth innings of a Test match for the first time in the same Test innings vs India.

# Virat Kohli received his second Man of the Match award in Tests - his first was against New Zealand at Bangalore for recording 103 & 51 not out in 2012.

# The Johannesburg Test provided the eighth occasion when the Indian spinners have failed to take a single wicket.

Zaheer became the fourth Indian to complete 300 Test wickets

December 23, 2013 11:02 IST
Zaheer Khan is congratulated by teammates after taking a wicket

Zaheer Khan became the fourth Indian bowler after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (413) to complete 300 wickets or more in Tests.

# Zaheer has taken 89 Tests to complete 300 Test wickets - the most number of Tests taken by an Indian bowler to the milestone. Anil Kumble had taken 66 Tests, followed by Harbhajan Singh (72) and Kapil Dev (83). 

# Zaheer became the third left-arm fast bowler to complete 300 wickets or more in Tests, joining Wasim Akram (414) and Chaminda Vaas (355).

De Villiers and Du Plessis shared the highest fifth-wicket partnership

December 23, 2013 11:02 IST
AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis

AB de Villiers and Du Plessis have shared a stand of 205 - the highest fifth-wicket partnership in the fourth innings of a Test match, surpassing the 177 by New Zealand pair - Bevan Congdon and Vic Pollard against England at Nottingham in 1973. 

# The 205-run stand is the highest for any wicket for South Africa in the fourth innings against India. The said partnership is South Africa's highest for any wicket in the fourth innings, bettering the 195 for the second wicket between Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla vs Australia at Cape Town in November 2011. 

# The 205-run stand is South Africa's highest fifth-wicket partnership vs India in South Africa - the second highest for South Africa vs India, next only to the 256 between de Villiers and Kallis at Ahmedabad in 2008. 

# The partnership is the first double century stand for any wicket for South Africa against India at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg apart from the highest fifth-wicket stand for South Africa at Johannesburg. 

# 15 double century stands in all have been registered in the fourth innings of a Test match.