Ducks and two giraffes get in a line: England record six zeroes and two scores of 150+

Indian Express

16 hours ago

India hold a lead of 244 runs heading into the fourth day of the second Test against England at Edgbaston, after the hosts had Jamie Smith (unbeaten 184) and Harry Brook (158) had piled on tons to lead England's fightback. It was Mohammed Siraj's six wickets and Akash Deep's four that helped India stay in the lead after both sides had had a chance to bat in Birmingham.
Here's a look at the stats that stood out:
1 – Jamie Smith became the first batsman in Test history to record a century before Lunch after coming into bat with the loss of two wickets in the session. Smith's 80-ball century is also the joint-third quickest for England in Tests.
184* – Smith recorded the highest score by an England wicket-keeper in Tests, surpassing Alex Stewart's 173 (v NZ, 1997).
12 – India conceded a 300-plus Test partnership for only the 12th time in history, with the Harry Brook-Jamie Smith 303-run stand marking the first such instance in 11 years since Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling's 352-run partnership in Wellington in 2014.
3 – Brook and Smith became the third pair in Test history to record a 300-plus stand after the team lost five wickets for fewer than 100 runs. Don Bradman-Jack Fingleton (346 v ENG from 97/5) and McCullum-Watling (352 v IND from 94/5) are the only other pairs to achieve the feat.
9 – Brook became the fastest England batter in 96 years since Herbert Sutcliffe (43) to reach nine Test centuries, in only 44 innings.
4.99 – No pair has recorded a bigger Test partnership at a higher scoring rate than Brook and Smith's 303 at a 4.99 run rate against India.
50.7 – Having claimed his first five-wicket haul in England, Mohammed Siraj now has the best strike rate among all Indian bowlers who have picked up at least 30 wickets in the country.
5.13 – Prasidh Krishna is the only player in Test history to bear a career economy greater than 5 among all bowlers who have bowled at least 500 deliveries.
6 – England became the first team to record a 400-plus total (407) with six ducks in the innings. The total is also the lowest to comprise two 150-plus scores.
10000 – Brydon Carse's duck was the 10,000th in all Test history. England have contributed 1926 of those, the most of all teams.
202 – Ben Stokes recorded his first golden duck in 202 innings in his career.
40 – Yashasvi Jaiswal became the joint-fastest Indian to reach 2000 Test runs, equalling Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag in 40 innings.
Lalith Kalidas is a Senior Sub-Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Working with the online sports desk, Lalith specializes in the happenings on the cricket field, with a particular interest in India's domestic cricket circle. He also carries an affinity towards data-driven stories and often weaves them into cricketing contexts through his analysis. Lalith also writes the weekly stats-based cricket column - 'Stats Corner'. A former cricketer who has played in state-level tournaments in Kerala, he has over three years of experience as a sports journalist. Lalith also covered the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India. ... Read More