India vs South Africa, 2019: 1st Test, Day 4 – Rohit’s twin tons, India’s record sixes and more stats

At the stumps on 4th day, India stands nine wickets away from a memorable victory in the first game of the 3-match Test series against South Africa. Rohit Sharma, in his maiden Test as an opener, scored a century for the 2nd time in this match. India made 323/4 from only 67 overs as the hosts set a target of 395 for the Proteas. The first innings centurion Dean Elgar was dismissed through a successful LBW referral. Earlier in the day, Ravichandran Ashwin had to claim a 7-wicket haul to wrap up the visiting team’s innings to 431.

All the statistical highlights from the 4th day of the Test match played in Vizag:

A game for the Indian openers:

3 – For the first time in Test history, India had three centuries from their openers in a Test match. Till the end of the 4th day, a total of four individual centuries have been recorded by the opening batsmen in this game. The other two instances of four individual 100s from openers in a Test are West Indies-England Test in 1948, Port of Spain and Australia-Sri Lanka Test in 2004, Cairns.

525 – The 525 runs by the openers for India in this game is the highest Test match aggregate by Indian openers. The previous highest was only 414 runs during the 1978 Mumbai Test. Only two teams ever had witnessed more runs scored by their opening batsmen in a Test match. (South Africa – 550 vs SA, 2003 and England vs IND, 1990)

One man many records:

1 – Rohit Sharma became the first player to score twin centuries in his maiden Test as an opener. His 303 runs are also the most in first Test match as an opener for any player.

List of records Rohit Sharma created with his twin tons in the Vizag Test against South Africa

13 – The 13 sixes Rohit has hit in this match are the most by any player in a Test match surpassing Wasim Akram’s 12 maximums during the 1996 Sheikhupura Test against Zimbabwe.

Stats: Rohit Sharma hits the most sixes in a Test match

303 – Runs Rohit aggregated in this Test match; the 9th instance of an Indian with 300+ runs in a Test match.

Stats: Rohit Sharma joins elite list after scoring 303 runs in the first Test against South Africa

Sixes galore:

27 – The 27 maximums by India in this Test are the most by any team in a Test match. They surpassed New Zealand’s record of 22 sixes during the 2014 Sharjah Test against Pakistan. Till the end of day 4, a total of 34 sixes were hit in this Test. The highest is 35 sixes during the PAK-NZ Test match in 2014 held in Sharjah.

A run feast for the Indians:

825 – India’s match-aggregate of 825 is the 3rd highest by any team against South Africa in Test cricket. England amassed 970 runs for the loss of 15 wickets during the 1939 Durban Test while Australia aggregated 906 runs in the 1911 MCG Test against the Proteas.

318 – The 318 runs conceded by Keshav Maharaj in this Test are the 3rd most conceded by any bowler in a Test match. Tommy Scott (9/374) in the 1930 Kingston Test against England and Jason Krejza (12/358) on his Test debut in the 2008 Nagpur Test against India conceded more runs in a Test match than Maharaj in this game. The previous most runs conceded by a South African in a Test match was also by Keshav who gave away 283 runs for his 12 wickets in the 2018 Colombo Test.

Rohit @ 9000:

9065 – Rohit Sharma completed 9000 runs in International cricket as an opening batsman. The 2nd innings of this match is Rohit’s 200th outing as Indian opener. He currently averages 50.36 as an opener and is the only player to average 50+ among the 28 players with 9000+ International runs while opening.