South Africa vs England, 2019-20: 4th Test – South Africa’s worst Test season, The Ben Stokes' series, South Africa's century-less streak and more stats

England sealed the 4-match Test series against South Africa as they took a 3-1 winning lead following a 191-run win in the Johannesburg Test. The home team began the 4th day needing 466 runs to draw the series. Rassie van der Dussen’s 98 from 138 put South Africa at 181/3 just before the Tea break. The batting line-up of the hosts began to crumble after skipper Faf du Plessis’ wicket. Mark Wood bagged four wickets to go along with his 5-fer in the first essay as the Proteas were bowled out for 274 losing their last eight wickets for 93 runs.

All the statistical highlights from England’s third straight win against South Africa in the 4-match Test series:

South Africa’s worst season:

6-1 – South Africa has lost six out of the seven Test matches they played in this 2019/20 season. They managed to win only one Test in this season – by 107 runs against England in Centurion. This is the first time that South Africa have lost as many as six matches in a Test season.

A first for England in more than a century:

1913/14 – The previous instance of England winning 3+ matches in a Test series on South African soil was back in the 1913/14 tour. The English team won the 5-match series played during that tour by 4-0 margin.

A first after many decades:

1950 – South Africa have not lost back to back Test series at home in the last 70 years. They lost to England in 1948 and against Australia during the 1949-50 season while playing at home.

2004/05 – For the first time since the 2004-05 season the Proteas lost three consecutive Test series. South Africa’s series losing streak began with the home Test series win during February 2019.

Yet another series without a hundred:

2 – This series against England is only the 2nd Test series of 4+ matches without an individual century for South Africa. No player from South Africa managed to score a ton during the 4-match Test series in India in the 2015/16 season.

6 – South Africa didn’t have even one player scoring a century across their last six Test matches; their joint-longest streak in Test cricket without an individual century. The streak began from the Pune Test during their tour of India.

The first-ever individual Test ton for South Africa was scored in 1899 which was the 8th Test match of South Africa. Between 1924 and 1928, South Africa didn’t record an individual hundred in six consecutive Tests.

A series to remember for Stokes:

8 – Ben Stokes became only the 8th player in Test history to score 300+ runs, pick 10+ wickets and claim 10+ catches; all in the same series. This is only the 3rd such series for an England player after Tony Greig (The Ashes in Australia, 1974/75) and Ian Botham (The Ashes in England, 1981).

Stokes finished with 318 runs, 10 wickets and 12 catches in this 4-match series; the only player with this treble in a series of four or fewer matches.

12 – Ben Stokes’ 12 catches in this series are the joint 2nd most by an England fielder in a Test series. Sir Alastair Cook is the only England fielder with more 12 catches in a Test series as he took 13 catches during his career’s last Test series against India in 2018.

A good effort with the ball by Wood:

9/100 – Mark Wood’s bowling figures of 9/100 in this match are the best by an England pacer in an away Test match since 2009. The last England pacer with best match figures during an away Test was Ryan Sidebottom who took 10/139 against New Zealand in the 2008 Hamilton Test.

Faf drops below 40:

39.8 – Faf du Plessis’ Test batting average of 39.8 at the end of Johannesburg Test; the first instance of his batting average dropping below 40 at the end of a game during his 65-match Test career. Before this Test, Faf stood as the only player from South Africa to have played 50+ innings with his batting average in Test cricket never dropping below 40.