South Africa vs India, 3rd Test, Day 3 Stats Review: Rishabh Pant shatters flurry of records with stunning century

India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant scored a magnificent unbeaten hundred on Day 3 of the ongoing third Test in Cape Town to help India set a target of 212 runs for South Africa. Pant slammed the fourth ton of his Test career with all of them coming in different countries. He became the first Asian wicket-keeper to smash a Test ton on South African soil and also the first Asian keeper to hit three centuries in Tests in SENA countries.

Earlier in the morning, India got off to the worst possible start as the visitors lost Cheteshwar Pujara on the second ball of the day with Keegan Petersen grabbing a sensational one-handed catch at leg slip off the bowling of Marco Jansen. Ajinkya Rahane recorded his second single-digit score of the match as he scored just one run with Kagiso Rabada getting his wicket. Captain Virat Kohli was then joined by Pant as the duo shared 94 runs partnership off 179 deliveries. Kohli yet again played a determined and gritty inning of 29 runs from 143 balls as he fell prey to Lungi Ngidi

Pant smashed four maximums during the course of his century as he got no support from India’s lower order. Marco Jansen continued to impress as he took four wickets and will finish the series with 19 scalps to his name. Chasing 212, the hosts lost Aiden Markram for 16 runs in their chase as the opener’s disastrous series came to end where he scored just 76 runs in six innings.

Jasprit Bumrah took the crucial scalp of captain Dean Elgar at the stroke of Stumps to give some hope to his team. With Keegan Petersen being unbeaten on 48 and eight wickets in hand, the home side will fancy their chances for the win which will also seal the series for them.

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

4 – Aiden Markram got dismissed by Mohammed Shami for the fourth time in this series.

12.66 – Markram accumulated an average of just 12.66 in six innings this series.

1 – Rishabh Pant becomes the first Asian wicketkeeper to hit three Test centuries in SENA countries. Moin Khan had smashed two hundred in these countries.

20 – All 20 wickets of India in the match have been out caught. Previously for India, 19 wickets were out caught against the same opposition South Africa in Durban in 2010.

20 – Kagiso Rabada equaled Allan Donald and is now joint-second with him for most wickets in a series against India at home. The latter took 20 scalps twice in the 1992/93 and 1996/97 series. Dale Steyn snared 21 wickets in the 2010/11 series.

3 – Pant has now three Test hundreds outside Asia. The other three Indian wicketkeepers Vijay Manjrekar, Ajay Ratra, and Wriddhiman Saha all had one ton each.

4 – Pant scored his fourth century in Tests. All four centuries have come in four different countries.

31.39 – Virat Kohli’s strike rate of 31.39 is the least he has accumulated in a Test match where he has scored a minimum of 50 runs. He had a strike rate of 34.91 against England in Nagpur in 2012.

20 – Pant is now joint-top with Ben Stokes for most sixes (20) in Tests since 2020.

5 – Markram got out to Shami for the fifth time in Test matches which is the most he has been dismissed against a bowler. Pat Cummins and Rangana Herath have taken his wicket four times in Tests.

1 – Pant becomes the first Asian wicketkeeper to score a Test century in South Africa.

5 – Shami got the better of Markram for the fifth time in Test cricket. The Indian pacer has also dismissed Kagiso Rabada, BJ Watling, Temba Bavuma, and Jonny Bairstow as many times.

2 – Pant became only the second wicketkeeper after Adam Gilchrist to score a Test ton in England, Australia, India, and South Africa.

4 – Lungi Ngidi got rid of Virat Kohli for the fourth time in the longest format of the game. He has also got Mohammed Shami out as many times in the Tests.

6 – Pant is now the Indian wicketkeeper with the fourth-most 50 plus scores (6) in away Tests. MS Dhoni (19), Farokh Engineer (8), and Kiran More (7) are in the top three.

526 – Dean Elgar has now scored second-most runs (526) in the fourth innings of Tests since 2018. Kusal Mendis with 578 runs tops the list.