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January 6, 2000

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Statistical Highlights 3rd Test: Australia v India at Sydney, 2-4 January, 2000

This match was the 1481st in Test history.

This match was Australia's 603rd and India's 331st in Tests.

This match was the 57th meeting between the two sides.

This match was the 86th to be played at this venue. India was playing its 7th match at this venue.

Mark Waugh was playing in his 100th match. He becomes the sixth Australian and the 21st player to do so in Tests. He has now appeared in 79 consecutive matches for Australia from 1993 to date.

Glenn McGrath's 5-48 was the best bowling figures against India at this venue bettering the previous best of 5-59 by Bob Simpson in 1967-68.

India's 150 was its lowest at this venue. The previous lowest was the 188 in 1947-48.

Justin Langer's 223 was the highest ever score made by an Australian against India. The previous highest was the 213 by Kim Hughes at Adelaide in 1980-81. The previous highest score at this venue against India was the 204 by Greg Chappell in 1980-81.

Langer's double hundred was the 30th to be scored against India and the seventh by a left-hander. It was in fact the fourth highest individual score by a left-handed batsman in Tests against India. The others being Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya (340 at Colombo, RP, 1997-98), West Indian Clive Lloyd (242* at Bombay, 1974-75) and Kiwi Bert Sutcliffe (230* at Delhi, 1955-56).

Langer's 223 was the highest by a left-hander batting at number three against India. The previous highest was also by an Australian - 163 by Allan Border at Melbourne, 1985-86.

It was also the second highest by an Australian left-hander at number three in Tests. Graham Yallop's 268 against Pakistan at Melbourne in 1983-84 - still remains the highest.

Although Langer's score was the eighth highest at this venue, it was the fourth highest by an Australian at Sydney in Tests. Only Doug Walters (242 v West Indies, 1968-69), Don Bradman and Sid Barnes (234 each against England in 1946-47) exceeds Langer's score at this venue.

Langer now has the unique distinction of scoring the first hundred-plus score of the 21st century. He emulates Englishman Archie McLaren who scored 116 against Australia at this same venue on 13 December, 1901 - to become the first batsman to score a hundred-plus in the 20th century. Just for the record, a total of 2327 hundreds have been scored during the last century.

The wicket of Langer was Tendulkar's first as a captain in 23 matches. He now becomes the 13th Indian captain to capture at least one wicket in Tests. Present coach Kapil Dev has the maximum wickets for India as captain - 111 wickets in 34 matches.

Ricky Ponting's unbeaten 141 was the highest score by an Australian number six against India. It obliterates the previous highest score of 127 (unbeaten) by Don Bradman at Melbourne in 1947-48.

It was also the highest at this position by any batsman against India on a foreign soil. The previous highest being Englishman Ian Botham's 137 at Leeds in 1979.

Adam Gilchrist's unbeaten 45 has taken his tally of runs to 485. He now has a batting average of 69.29 which is the highest by any keeper in Test history with at least 300 or more runs as a keeper-batsman. Zimbabwean Andy Flower who in 35 matches has scored 2432 runs has a batting average of 44.22, which is the next best after Gilchrist.

The partnerships for the following wickets were the best against India at this venue:
97 - 3rd wkt - Langer and M Waugh (previous best: 83 - Doug Walters and Paul Sheahan, 1967-68)
121 - 4th wkt - Langer and S Waugh (previous best: 83 - David Boon and Dean Jones, 1991-92)
190 - 5th wkt - Langer and Ponting (previous best:172 - Greg Chappell and Doug Walters, 1980-81)
95 (unbeaten) - 6th wkt - Ponting and Gilchrist (previous best: 18 - S Waugh & Greg Matthews, 1985-86)

Anil Kumble (33.2-6-126-0) for the only second time in his career failed to capture a wicket after conceding over 100 runs. The other occasion being against South Africa at Cape Town in 1996-97 when his figures read as: 51-7-136-0

MSK Prasad conceded only two byes in Australia's total of 552-5 decl. It was the least conceded (0.36 byes per 100 runs) by an Indian keeper in Australia where the opponent's total exceeded over 550 runs. Syed Kirmani did not concede any byes in Australia's total of 528 runs at Adelaide in 1980-81.

Australia's total was its highest against India at this venue. It previous highest was 406 in 1980-81.

The total of 552-5 was incidentally the only second highest by an Australian team at home where it has lost least number of wickets. The highest remains as the 617-5 against Sri Lanka at Perth in 1995-96. Curiously, the highest score made by a team losing just four wickets in a Test match in Australia was the 600-4 by India at this same ground in 1985-86.

Australia's first innings lead of 402 runs provided the 20th instance in Test cricket of a team gaining a lead of over 400 runs. It was the second highest lead conceded by India in Tests after 490 runs lead it conceded against West Indies at Calcutta in 1958-59. Interestingly, the last occasion any team conceded such a huge lead was when Australia conceded exactly 400 runs at Calcutta in March, 1998. Incidentally, this lead was the second largest at this venue after the 404 runs lead gained by Australia against England in 1946-47.

VVS Laxman's 167 out of 261 represents 63.98% of the team's total. This falls short of the all-time Test record of 67.35% held by Australians Charles Banerman (165* / 245) against England at Melbourne, 1876-77 (which incidentally was the first ever Test match) and 66.85% by Michael Slater (123 / 184) against England at Sydney, 1998-99.

However Laxman's performance was the best by an Indian batsman dominating an innings. It betters Kapil Dev's 60% - during his innings of 129 runs out of 215 against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1992-93 (Note: Mohinder Amarnath had 61.85% when he scored 60 in India's total of 97-5 with rest of the five batsmen being absent hurt against West Indies at Kingston, 1975-76.

Laxman's innings was now the most dominating Test innings ever played against Australia. Englishman Johnny Tyldesley had scored 62 runs out of 103 at Melbourne in 1903-04 to register 60.19% of his team's total.

Laxman's in the last session (3rd day) added 121 runs (46* to 167) - the second most runs scored by a Test batsman in a session. The maximum remains as with Australian Victor Trumper during his innings of 159 scored 133 runs in the last session against South Africa at Melbourne in 1910-11. Just for the record, Mohammad Azharuddin had scored 103 between lunch and tea against England at Manchester in 1990.

Laxman's 167 is now the fifth highest score by a Indian batsman while being on losing side.

Steve Waugh in his 14th match as captain has won his ninth Test (with three losses and two draws). He now has the second best victory percentage of 64.29 in Test history, among players who have led their sides in at least 10 or more matches. Only fellow Australian Warwick Armstrong (1920-21 to 1921) with eight victories in ten matches (80%) has a better record than S Waugh. Waugh is followed by Don Bradman (1936-37 to 1948) with 15 victories in 24 matches (62.50%).

Ajit Agarkar who bagged a "King's pair" in the previous Test at Melbourne missed another one by just one ball, when he was dismissed for another pair in the second innings off the second ball. Agarkar who is considered as an all-rounder in the team now has this dubious distinction of recording five ducks off six balls - the only such instance not only in Test cricket but in the entire first-class history. The nearest any batsman has come close to achieve such a dubious distinction was South African Bob Crisp who was dismissed for four zeros off five balls against Australia in 1935-36.

By recording five ducks in a row he now equals the dubious Test record of Australian Bob Holland who from 1985 to 1985-86 had five consecutive ducks. Among Indians Pankaj Roy (v England in 1952) and Ramakant Desai (v England and Australia from 1959 to 1959-60) have four ducks in a row. However Agarkar has now gone past them.

Agarkar's five ducks (in 6 innings) now also equals the Indian record of most ducks in a Test series held by Pankaj Roy (v England in 1952 in 7 innings) and by Mohinder Amarnath (v West Indies in 1983-84 in 6 innings).

Glenn McGrath who was the highest wicket-taker with 67 wickets in 14 matches in the last calendar year, has now captured 10 wickets in the very first match for this calendar year.

His match figures of 10-103 was the best by an Australian bowler against India at this venue. It betters by a long way the previous best of 8-97 by Bob Simpson in 1967-68.

On the third and last day a total of 482 runs were scored in 103.2 overs by both teams which was the seventh maximum runs scored in a day's play in Test history. However it was the maximum scored in a Test match in Australia. It betters the previous highest of 458-12 by Australia and the West Indies at this same venue in 1968-69.

India's defeat by an innings and 141 runs was its eighth largest in its Test history. It was also its 31st such defeat (ie by an innings) in Tests. Interestingly the last occasion India lost a Test by an innings was against West Indies at Calcutta way back in 1983-84. India had then lost by an innings and 46 runs. Since then India has gone through 112 Test matches without an innings defeat. Just for the record, the last occasion India lost by an innings away from home was when it lost by an innings and 119 runs against Pakistan at Hyderabad (Sind) in 1982-83.

India's loss was the largest by any team at this venue since the innings and 155 run defeat of South Africa in 1931-32.

The victory was Australia's seventh in a row since its win against Zimbabwe at Harare in October last. They now need just one more victory to equal and two more to surpass the Australian record of eight Test wins in a row from 1920-21 to 1921 by Warwick Armstrong's team.

Australia has also won its seventh consecutive match at home since its victory against England at Sydney in January last year.

India has now lost all the Tests of a three-or-more match series for the sixth occasion. The last occasion being in 1974 when it lost all the three Test matches in England. The full list with captains:
Year Venue Score Captain
1959 in England 5-0 DK Gaekwad (4), Pankaj Roy (1)
1961-62 in West Indies 5-0 NJ Contractor (2), MAK Pataudi (2)
1967 in England 3-0 MAK Pataudi (3)
1967-68 in Australia 4-0 MAK Pataudi (3), CG Borde (1)
1974 in England 3-0 AL Wadekar
1999-00 in Australia 3-0 SR Tendulkar

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