AUS vs IND, 2020-21: 3rd Test, Day 4 – The record-breaking Indian pair, Smith-Labuschagne's SCG success and more stats

Australia stands 8 wickets away from claiming a 2-1 lead in the 4-match Test series against India as the hosts ended the 4th day at 98/2 while chasing a target of 407. Fifties from Steve Smith (81), Cameron Green (84) and Marnus Labuschagne (73) have helped Australia make 312/6 before declaring the innings at the Tea interval. Rohit Sharma (52) and Shubman Gill (31) replicated their success at the top with a 71-run partnership. However, both the batters got out in the final hour to hand the advantage to the Aussies.

Here are all the statistical highlights from the 4th day’s play of AUS vs IND Test at the Sydney cricket ground:

The record-breaking Indian pair:

1 – Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill became only the 2nd Indian opening pair with twin 50+ partnerships in a Test on Australian soil after Syed Mushtaq Ali and Farook Engineer in the 1968 Sydney Test. Rohit and Gill are also the first visiting pair in Australia with twin 50+ stands for the first wicket since Sherwin Campbell and Wavell Hinds of West Indies since 2001. Rohit-Shubman is also the first Indian opening pair to score 25+ runs each in both innings of a Test match on Australian soil.

2 – The pair of Rohit and Shubman is also the first Indian opening pair to survive the first 20 overs in both innings of a Test match outside Asia since 1999. They are only the 2nd Indian opener pair to last 20+ overs in both innings of an away Test match. Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagoppan Ramesh in the 2001 Colombo Test against Sri Lanka was the other such pair.

Twin 300+ totals for Australia:

2 – India has conceded 300+ totals in both innings of a Test match for only the 2nd time since the start of 2015. The other such instance came in the 2018 tour of England in the 5th Test. The home team made 332 and 434/8 dec during the match played at The Oval.

Rohit’s record six:

50 – Rohit Sharma became the first visiting player to hit 50 sixes on Australian soil in International cricket. As many as ten players hit 50+ International sixes in Australia before Rohit; all of them being Australians.

Rohit is also only the 4th player to hit 50+ sixes in International cricket in an away country after Shahid Afridi (UAE), Chris Gayle (England) and Aaron Finch (England). [Excluding Mohammad Shahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nabi and Mohammad Hafeez who done it while playing home matches in UAE]

Twin tons stands for Smith and Marnus:

2 – Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne became only the 2nd pair to share multiple century stands in a Test match at the SCG. The other such pair was England’s Sir Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe against the home team in December 1924. It was also the first-ever instance in Test history of two players adding on 100+ runs twice in the same Test.

Smith-Labuschagne is also the 5th Australian pair with two 100+ stands in a Test match and the first to do so since David Warner and Joe Burns for the first wicket in the 2015 Brisbane test against New Zealand.

Smith raises to the top:

11 – Steve Smith has scored 50+ runs in both innings of a Test match with at least one of them getting converted to a hundred on 11 occasions thus far. These are the joint-most such instances for any player in Test history alongside Jacques Kallis. Smith went on to record centuries in both innings only once in those 11 instances.

5 – Smith has scored 50+ each of his last five innings in Test cricket he played at the SCG. He scored fifties in the 2018 Test vs England and in the 2020 Test vs New Zealand where he batted only once and also a fifty in the 2nd innings of the 2017 Test against Pakistan.

Labuschagne’s record at SCG:

1 – Marnus Labuschagne became the first player to record twin fifties in successive Test matches at the Sydney cricket ground. Marnus scored a double century and 59 runs respectively during the 2020 New Year Test against New Zealand at this venue. Overall, Labuschagne is only the 4th player to record twin fifties in an SCG Test match twice.