Stats: South Africa records the first ever instance of 4 golden ducks in a Test inning

South Africa didn’t just lose The Oval Test but also picked up an unwanted record as 4 Proteas batsmen were dismissed for a duck on the first ball they faced; the first ever instance where 4 golden ducks were registered in a Test inning. Previously, there were 10 known instances of three golden ducks in an innings in Test cricket. Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander got out on the first ball shouldering their arms while Moeen Ali got Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel for a golden duck to complete his hat-trick.

3 – Number of instances when three or more South African batsmen got out for a golden duck in a Test inning. The other two were against England in 1938 and against India in 1996.

4 – South Africa’s second inning was the 4th instance of a team bagging 3 or more golden ducks in an inning against England. The most recent among the previous three was by West Indies in 2000.

2000 – The Sri Lankan batsmen were the last to pick 3 golden ducks in the 4th innings of a Test; it happened in the match against South Africa in 2000 at Kandy.

2003 – The last instance where 3 ducks were recorded in a Test inning was in 2003 by India in their first innings of the Boxing Day Test match against Australia in Melbourne.

2010 – Last time before this game, 4 or more South Africans got out for a duck in a Test innings was in 2010 the 1st innings at Cape Town also against England.

Three or more golden ducks recorded by a team in a Test inning:

(Note: List of 3 ducks in an innings are the instances only where the number of balls faced is known)

(Stats as on July 31, 2017)