South Africa vs India, 3rd Test, Day 1 Stats Review: Virat Kohli’s unique feat, Kagiso Rabada's milestone and other stats

The wait for Virat Kohli 71st International century extended as the Indian skipper got dismissed for 79, the highest score since his last international century which came in the year 2019. A determined Kohli who scored his second slowest fifty in Tests looked all set for a ton but Kagiso Rabada dismissed the Indian captain to restrict the visitors for 223.

Speaking of how Day 1 panned out, India won the toss yet again and decided to bat first. Openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal both got out for below 20 before Cheteshwar Pujara mustered 43 runs to share 62 runs partnership with Kohli. Ajinkya Rahane’s lean patch continued as he also got dismissed to Rabada for just nine runs. Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant faced 50 deliveries for his 27 runs as apart from Pujara and Pant nobody supported Kohli for long at the crease.

India lost their ninth wicket in the form of the Indian skipper as Rabada was the star performer for the hosts once again as he picked up four wickets with Marco Jansen impressing again with three scalps to his name. In reply, the Proteas lost their captain Dean Elgar, the Player of the match in the last Test, early on as he could manage only three runs with Jasprit Bumrah accounting for his wicket for the third time in the series. At Stump’s, South Africa finished at 17/1 trailing the Indian score by 206 runs.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from South Africa vs India, 3rd test Day 1:

50 – Kagiso Rabada complted 5o matches in his Test career.

158 – Kagiso Rabada surpassed Morne Morkel (155) and became the sixth-highest wicket-taker for South Africa in Tests at home.

26.50 – Mayank Agarwal averages just 26.50 in 22 innings in away Tests while his average playing at home is 83.90 in ten innings.

31 – Virat Kohli equaled Steve Waugh (31) and is now the captain with joint-fifth most tosses win in Test matches.

3 – Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Dean Elgar for the third time in this series.

2 – Kohli (690) went past Rahul Dravid (624) and is now the second-highest run-getter for India against the Proteas in Tests in South Africa.

21 – Kagiso Rabada equalled Vernon Philander’s tally (21) of most four-wicket hauls in a Test innings. Among South African bolwers with most four-fers in Tests, Rabada and Philander now jointly hold the sixth place.

2 – Kohli (1622) also surpassed Dravid (1554) and is now the Indian with the second-most international runs in South Africa.

23.73 – Ajinkya Rahane has the second-lowest average for a batter at no. five position with a minimum of ten innings played since 2020. West Indies player Roston Chase has an average of 9.92 which is the lowest.

79 – Skipper Kohli recorded the highest score since his last international century in 2019.

5 – Fifth 50 plus score for Kohli against the Proteas in South Africa. He went past Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and Cheteshwar Pujara’s tally of four such scores and is now second behind Sachin Tendulkar (8).

5 – Rabada went past Vernon Philander (14) and is now the South African bowler with most four-fors (15) in home Tests.

2 – Kohli recorded his second slowest fifty (158 balls) in Tests. He took most deliveries (171) against England in the year 2012.

1003 – Kohli became the first Asian captain with 1000 runs in South Africa across formats. Sourav Ganguly had mustered 911 runs in the Rainbow nation.

12 – Rishabh Pant has scored just one fifty in 12 innings after the WTC Final.

3 – Rahane (13) is now joint-second with Zak Crawley (13) for recording most single-digit scores by a batter from position one-seven since 2020. Dom Sibley is on top for 14 such scores.

19.33 – Wicketkeeper batter Pant has an average of just 19.33 after the WTC Final.