Number cruncher! How India decimated South Africa to clinch Test series
Riding on an all-round performance, Indian cricket team extracted their revenge against South Africa by winning the four-match Test series 3-0 following a comprehensive 337-run victory in the final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on 7 December.
Also read: Ajinkya Rahane continues to shatter records
Fighting to save the match after India set an imposing target of 481 runs, the Proteas tried to use their ultra-defensive strategy before being bowled out for 143 runs - with their last five wickets falling for a mere seven runs in a dramatic collapse.
Also read: Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers get trolled on Twitter
Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 127 and 100*, was adjudged the Man of the Match for his double hundreds in the two innings. India's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has troubled the visitors in four matches, was given the Man of the Series award.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin shared seven wicket apiece in the match while Umesh Yadav's second innings spell of 3/9 in 21 overs was also crucial in India's emphatic win. In the batting department, Rahane led from the front while skipper Virat Kohli (44 & 88) also found his long-lost form for India.
The Test series win didn't just made up for the losses in ODI and T20 series, but it also catapulted the Indian team to the second spot in the ICC rankings in the longest-version of the game.
Here's a look at the statistical highlights of the fourth Test between India and South Africa:
Photo: PTI
Ajinkya Rahane (89 not out off 155 balls) has recorded the highest score by any batsman in the 4th Test, bettering the 85 off 105 balls by AB de Villiers at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore last month.
Photo: PTI
Feroz Shah Kotla is the only ground where in all the 33 instances, a captain winning the toss has opted to bat. Among the Test ground with more than 10 Tests, Feroz Shah Kotla is the only ground to enjoy such a record.
Shikhar Dhawan_PTI">Photo: AFP
India (231/7) have registered the highest score in the current series, eclipsing the 215 by India at Nagpur in the third Test last month.
Photo: Getty Images
Ajinkya Rahane's knock is his first fifty in seven Test innings in India - his eighth in Tests.
Photo: Getty Images
Virat Kohli (44) has recorded his highest Test score at Feroz Shah Kotla, bettering the 41 against Australia in March 2013.
Photo: AFP
Ajinkya Rahane had managed just 47 runs in his previous six innings in Tests on Indian soil - the sequence of scores being 7, 1, 15, 2, 13 & 9.
Photo: AFP
The partnership of 70 runs between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane is the first fifty-plus stand for the fourth wicket in the present series.
Photo: PTI
The stand of 59 between Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja is the first fifty-plus stand for the seventh wicket in the present rubber.
Photo: AFP
Kyle Abbot (3/23 off 17 overs) has registered his second best bowling figures in Tests next only to the 7 for 29 vs Pakistan at Centurion in February 2013.
Photo: PTI
Dane Piedt (4/101), playing in his second Test, in three consecutive innings, has taken four wickets in an innings. Against Zimbabwe on his debut at Harare last year, he had taken 4 for 90 & 4 for 62.
File Photo
Kyle Abbot's superb economy rate of 1.35 is the best by any bowler delivering at least 15 overs in an innings at Feroz Shah Kotla, bettering the 1.36 produced by New Zealand's Harry Cave during his figures of 50-28-68-1 in December 1955.
Photo: PTI
By winning all the four tosses in the series, Virat became the second Indian captain to win all the tosses in a series of four or more Tests. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi had won all the five tosses against England in 1963-64.
Photo: AFP
A total of 41 wickets have fallen on the first days of four Tests, which has equalled a record for most wickets that have fallen on the first days of a bilateral series of four or fewer Tests. The last such instance being in the 1895-96 series between England and South Africa.
Photo: PTI
Rohit Sharma's first duck in India is his fourth in Tests. He has posted two ducks against South Africa (both golden ducks) and one each against New Zealand and Australia.
Photo: AFP
Ajinkya Rahane has managed 179 runs (127 & 52*) - the second highest in a Test match by him. His highest was 195 runs (147 & 48) against Australia at Melbourne in December 2014.
Photo: PTI
Rohit is averaging 6.50 in the present series - his tally being 26 in four innings at a strike rate of 35.13. Both his batting average (minimum two innings) and strike-rate are his worst in a Test series.
Photo: PTI
Ajinkya Rahane, with his aforesaid tally in the Delhi Test, has established an Indian record for a number five batsman in a Test match vs South Africa, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's 178 (169 & 9) at Cape Town in January 1997.
Photo: PTI
As number three batsman, Rohit Sharma is averaging 21.40 in Tests - his tally being 107 in five innings, including a fifty (53) against Australia at Sydney in January 2015.
Photo: AFP
Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten fifty is his third against South Africa - his eighth in Tests.
Photo: PTI
Cheteshwar Pujara has amassed 202 runs at an average of 33.66 in six innings - his lowest aggregate in a four-match Test series at home.
Photo: PTI
Ajinkya Rahane is the fourth Indian batsman after Mohammad Azharuddin (109 & 52 at Kolkata in 1996-97), Rahul Dravid (148 & 81 at Johannesburg in 1996-97) and Virat Kohli (119 & 96 at Johannesburg in 2013-14) to post a century and a fifty in the same Test match against South Africa.
Photo: AFP
Virat Kohli, who has scored 2,989 runs at an average of 44.61 including 11 hundreds and 12 fifties in 41 Tests, is all set to complete his 3000 runs in Tests.
Photo: PTI
Thanks to his unbeaten 83, Virat Kohli is averaging fifty-plus (51.88) against South Africa in Tests - his tally being 467 in ten innings, including a hundred and two fifties.
Photo: PTI
Virat Kohli, at the age of 27 years and 28 days, is the third youngest Indian captain to post a fifty-plus at Feroz Shah Kotla. At the age of 23 years and 34 days, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi had made an unbeaten 203 against England at this venue in February 1964.
Photo: PTI
During the course of his aforesaid innings, Virat Kohli has completed his 1,000 runs in Tests in India - his tally being 1054 (ave.47.90), including three centuries and seven fifties, in 17 Tests.
Photo: AFP
Virat Kohli has amassed 891 runs at an average of 55.68, including four hundreds and two fifties - the second highest tally by an Indian skipper after ten Tests next only to Sunil Gavaskar's 1031 (ave.79.31) including five hundreds and three fifties.
Photo: AFP
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane put on 133 (unfinished)- India's highest for the fifth wicket against South Africa in Tests in India, surpassing the 110 between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly at Ahmedabad in April 2008.
Photo: AFP
The aforesaid partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane is the second highest for India for the fifth wicket against South Africa behind the 220 recorded between Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar at Bloemfontein in November 2001. The said unbroken stand of 133 is the first century partnership for any wicket in the current rubber.
Photo: AFP
Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have recorded run rate of 0.78 during their unbroken partnership of 23 off 176 balls - the lowest by any pair with at least 175 balls. They surpassed the 0.91 run-rate registered during the stand of 177-balls 27 between De Villiers and Kyle Abbott against Australia at Cape Town in March 2014.
Photo: PTI
With Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli has managed to score 1094 runs in 21 innings at an average of 54.70 in 21 innings, including three century partnerships. With Cheteshwar Pujara, he has managed 1135 runs at an average of 49.34, including three 100+ partnerships.
Photo: PTI
Ajinkya Rahane is the fifth Indian batsman to post a century in each innings of a Test match, joining Sunil Gavaskar (3 times), Rahul Dravid (twice), Vijay Hazare and Virat Kohli. He is also the first Indian batsman to record a hundred in each innings of a Test match against South Africa.
Photo: PTI
Ajinkya Rahane, who smashed four sixes during his 127-run knock in first innings and three more in the course of his unbeaten hundred in the second, became only the second Indian batsman after Harbhajan Singh to record at least three sixes in each innings of a Test match.
Photo: PTI
Seven sixes smashed by Ajinkya Rahane in Delhi Test is the joint second highest by an Indian batsman in a Test behind the eight by Navjot Singh Sidhu during his innings of 124 vs Sri Lanka at Lucknow in January 1994. Besides Rahane and Sidhu, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan have hit seven sixes in a Test match.
Photo: PTI
With 266 runs at an average of 53.20, Ajinkya Rahane is the leading run-getter on either side in the series. He is the only one to register two hundreds in the present series. No other batsman has recorded even one. He became the first Indian batsman to post three Test centuries this year.
Photo: PTI
Hashim Amla's strike rate of 11.11 is the lowest by any batsman in a Test innings of 200 or more balls.
Photo: PTI
Ajinkya Rahane has registered six centuries in Tests - one each against Australia, Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand and two against South Africa.
Photo: AFP
With his splendid 88 in second innings during fourth Test, Virat Kohli is averaging 47.20 against South Africa in Tests - his aggregate being 472 in ten innings, including a hundred and two fifties.
First published: 7 December 2015, 10:13 IST
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