The first Test of the ongoing Gandhi-Mandela series, between India and South Africa, saw the hosts pip the visitors to go one-up in the series. Cleaning up the South Africans for 191 on the final day, Virat Kohli and Co registered a handsome win by a margin of 203 runs to continue their love affair with Vizag. Pace gun Mohammed Shami exhibited a breathtaking display of fast bowling to play the chief destroyer while spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around the Proteas batsmen. The win meant that India continue their unbeaten run in the World Test Championship. Apart from witnessing India stamp their authority yet again in home conditions, the first Test between India and South Africa, in Vizag, also saw several records broken to make a memorable affair for the fans.
Here are 5 records that were broken in the first Test between India and South Africa in Vizag:
#1 Most sixes in a Test match
India and South Africa joined hands to break the world record for the most number of sixes in a Test match. Surpassing the previous record of 35 sixes in a game, between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah in 2014-15, the two teams accounted for 37 sixes in the first Test in Vizag to make history. While India smashed 27 sixes, South Africa tonked the remaining 10 sixes.
#2 Most sixes for a batsman in a Test match
It was sixes galore for the crowd that had turned up at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Vizag to see India and South Africa lock horns. India’s star batsman Rohit Sharma was in a destructive mood as he took the South African bowlers to the cleaners. Striking 13 sixes in the Test, Sharma broke the world record for the most number of sixes by a batsman in a Test match.
#3 Twin centuries as a Test opener
Mauling the opposition’s bowling attack at will, Rohit Sharma also became the first batsman to score centuries in each innings in the first Test as an opener. Sharma scored a brilliant 176 in the first innings to follow it up with a stunning 127 in India’s second innings to break into the record books.
#4 Ashwin’s race to 350 wickets
India’s spin specialist Ravichandran Ashwin became the joint-fastest alongside Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan to scalp 350 wickets in Test cricket. The offie achieved the feat when he castled Theunis de Bruyn on Day 5. Ashwin got the milestone in 66 Test matches.
#5 Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma’s match-winning opening stand
The platform for India’s victory was laid quite early in the Test match. Openers Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma stitched a glorious 317-run stand in the first innings to become the third Indian pair to amass a 300-run plus partnership. The duo also set a new record for the highest opening partnership in a Test match between India and South Africa.
Discussion about this post