Although it was bowlers’ series, Dean Elgar recorded the third instance of a South African batsman carrying his bat
S Rajesh27-Jan-2018The Johannesburg strongholdIndia’s spotless record in Johannesburg remains intact, with their 63-run victory in the third Test of this series. That puts their tally at two wins and three draws at the Wanderers. Among all overseas venues, where they have played at least five Tests, the only other ground where they haven’t lost a single one is Georgetown, Guyana. India have played six games there. All of them have ended in draws.
Venue Mat Won Lost Bat ave Bowl aveJohannesburg 5 2 0 29.27 27.09Auckland 5 2 1 35.31 29.61SSC, Colombo 9 3 2 39.16 42.9P Sara, Colombo 5 2 2 33.93 36.35PoS, Trinidad 13 3 3 33.7 34.85A series for bowlersFor the first time in history, all 40 wickets fell in each Test in a series of three of more matches. There were three instances of 118 wickets falling in a three-Test series, while the highest in a four-Test series is 157. The best over five Tests is 197.ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia’s bowlers had rare success when travelling: for only the third time in an away series of three or more Tests, they took all the wickets on offer in each match. The two other such instances were in England 1986, when India won 2-0, and in Sri Lanka 2015, when they won 2-1. This was also the first instance of India’s fast bowlers taking all 20 wickets in a Test.Last man standingWhile wickets fell in a hurry at the other end, Dean Elgar kept going and eventually finished on an undefeated 86 and recorded only the third instance of a South African batsman carrying his bat since their readmission to Test cricket. He followed in his own footsteps; in 2015, against England, Elgar made 118 not out. Gary Kirsten’s Pakistan 100 not out against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1997 rounds off the list.The South African collapseSouth Africa’s last seven wickets managed a grand total of 53 runs, after the Elgar-Amla stand for the second wicket had put together 119, only the third century stand by either team in the entire series. Since their readmission to Test cricket, only twice have South Africa added fewer runs in an innings across eight partnerships, and both those instances were in home Tests against Australia.Second-innings ShamiMohammed Shami’s 5 for 28 are his best figures in Test cricket, and quite fittingly, it came in the second innings, when he has been at his best in this series. The contrast couldn’t be more stark: in the second innings, he has taken 12 wickets at an average of 8.75; in the first, he managed only three wickets at 50.33.
Inns Wkts Ave SRFirst 3 50.33 86Second 12 8.75 20.2Amla in controlIn conditions that were extremely difficult for the batsmen, Hashim Amla showed great skill and adaptability in passing 50 in each innings, the only batsman to do so in the Test. In terms of control factor – the number of deliveries he middled or left alone – Amla achieved a percentage that was the best among all batsmen who faced 20-plus deliveries. He achieved a control percentage of 84.2, which was marginally better than KL Rahul’s 84.1 in his second-innings knock of 16 off 44 balls. Among the batsmen who passed 50 in this Test, no other batsman had a control percentage of more than 80.
Batsman Score Control %Amla 52 84.2Pujara 50 78.2Amla 61 77.7Elgar 86* 77.5Kohli 54 68.9Captain Kohli wins No. 21The Johannesburg win was India’s 21st in Tests under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, which puts him level with Sourav Ganguly in second place among India’s most winning captains. Only MS Dhoni, with 27 wins, is in front in terms of Test victories. Kohli has reached the mark in just 35 Tests, compared to Ganguly’s 49.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
