Cricket in 2018: 10 best records that South Africa created this year

South Africa didn’t have a greatest of starts to 2018 where they went down to India in the ODI series 1-5 and in the T20I series by 1-2 after defeating them in the Test series. However, as the year passed on, the Saffers registered some memorable wins while the debacles happened to them as well. They won their first home Test series against Australia since 1992 which was marred by the ball-tampering controversy. They lost a Test series in Sri Lanka but finished with a successful limited-overs tour of Australia.

Here are the ten best records that South Africa and its players created in 2018:

1. End of a streak:

South Africa’s first ODI game of the year was a defeat to India in Durban. This defeat brought an end their 17-match winning streak in the ODI format at home; the longest such streak for any team.

2. Elgar carrying his bat:

Dean Elgar now has carried the bat on three different occasions including twice this year; against India in Johannesburg and Australia in Cape Town. Thus, he became only the 2nd opener to carry the bat on three occasions in Test cricket after Desmond Haynes.

3. Beating Australia at home:

South Africa won their first ever Test series at home against Australia since their readmission to cricket. They defeated the Aussies 3-1 in the 4-match Test series after losing the first match. They lost five of their seven home Test series after their readmission against the Aussies.

4. Maharaj’s special:

Keshav Maharaj claimed as many as eight wickets on the opening day of the Colombo Test against Sri Lanka. He is only the 3rd South African to bag as many wickets in a single day’s play and the first to do it on the opening day of a Test match. HJ Tayfield against England had eight wickets on the 5th day of 1957 Johannesburg Test while Dale Steyn claimed eight on the 3rd day of 2010 Nagpur Test against India.

5. New lows for the Saffers:

At the start of the year, South Africa were bowled out for only 118 against India in the Centurion ODI; their lowest ODI total at home. Later in the Galle Test match against Sri Lanka, they were bundled out for only 73 in the 4th innings to register their lowest Test total since readmission to cricket in 1992. A few weeks later in Colombo, the Proteas were bowled out for 98 in the one-off T20I against the Lankans registering their lowest T20I total.

6. Reeza’s record:

Reeza Hendricks became the 14th player to score a century on ODI debut against Sri Lanka. The South Africa No.3 batsman brought up his century in only 88 balls. This is the first ever ODI century by a debutant coming in less than 100 deliveries.

7. Markram’s quick 1000:

Aiden Markram reached 1000 Test runs in his 10th Test and after batting 18 innings. Thus, he became the 2nd fastest in terms of innings for completing 1000 Test runs for South Africa after Graeme Smith (17 innings) and the quickest to the milestone for South Africa in terms of matches surpassing Eddie Barlow (11 Test matches).

He reached this milestone in 186 days from his debut which is the 2nd fewest after Mike Hussey. The former Australian left-hander reached 1000 Test runs in only 166 days. No player other than Markram and Hussey needed less than 200 days from their debut to complete 1000 Test runs.

8. Dale Steyn ends his wait:

With 424 wickets to his name, Steyn became the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket for South Africa. He thus surpassed Shaun Pollock’s tally of 421 wickets in the Boxing Day Test.

9. Rabada hits 50:

Kagiso Rabada became the first South African to claim 50 Test wickets in consecutive calendar years. He bagged 57 wickets in 2017 and 52 more in 2018.

10. Faf ends on a poor note:

Faf du Plessis ended the year with a pair in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan though it resulted in a victory. He bagged a golden duck in the first innings to become the first Saffer player with three golden ducks in Test cricket as captain. Du Plessis also had four ducks in the Test matches he played in 2018 which is the most by a South Africa captain in a year.

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