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Axar Patel sizzles as records galore in the third Test

article_imageSTATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
Last updated on 26 Feb 2021 | 09:39 AM
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Axar Patel sizzles as records galore in the third Test

A look at the handful of statistical highlights in a rare Test between India and England that ended in two days

Ishant Sharma becomes the third youngest Indian to 100 Tests

When Ishant made his Test debut at the age of 18 years and 265 days, he was the youngest fast bowler to debut for India. Since then, his journey has been exceptional in Tests. Though there were twists and turn, the tall and lanky fast bowler has had his moments of joy. In the third Test match at the Narendra Modi Stadium (renamed after Motera), he became the 11th Indian to play 100 Tests for India and only the second fast bowler. 


At the age of 32 years and 174 days, he also became the third-youngest Indian to feature in 100 Tests.

Third lowest first innings score in D/N Tests

After opting to bat first on a pitch that had turn and bounce but without demons, England could have done better. Especially, when they were 74/2 with Zak Crawley and Joe Root at the crease. The collapse triggered when their best player of spin, Root was dismissed by Ashwin. From that score, England could manage only 112 runs, losing eight wickets for 38 runs. In their previous Day and Night Test as well, they were bundled out for 58 in the first innings against New Zealand in 2018. 

This score of 112 is the third-lowest first innings score in a Day and Night Test. There was another low that England suffered in this:

    112 – Is the second-lowest first Innings score for a team against India in Tests. The first one came in India’s first D/N Test against Bangladesh (106).

Joe Root spins a web

With only one specialist spinner in the playing XI, England had made a tactical mistake. Which meant, Jack Leach had tons of weight on his shoulders. Though he was consistently troubling the Indian batsmen, from the other end, fast bowlers released the pressure. Sighting this, Joe Root had to roll his arms. Without conceding a run, Root had bagged three wickets, all three of those were left-handers. In a span of just six overs, Root mopped up the last five Indian wickets and conceded just eight runs. This is the fewest runs conceded by a spinner for his five-wicket haul.

Root also became the seventh player to score a double century and bag a five-wicket haul in the same series. Prior to him, Wasim Akram in 1996/97 against Zimbabwe achieved this feat.

Four ducks amongst England’s top three

It was not a great welcome for Jonny Bairstow who was making his comeback after being rested for the first two Tests. In both the innings, he bagged a duck and thus, suffered a pair. In fact, in his last seven innings against India, he has suffered five ducks. In the first innings, Dom Sibley was dismissed to a duck and in the second innings, his partners Zak Crawley suffered the fate. 

In total, amongst the top three England batsmen, there were four ducks in this match. This is the most ducks suffered by their top three in a Test match. 

Ravichandran Ashwin flying high

Ravi Ashwin was six wickets short of 400 before the start of the third Test. In the first innings, he cut down the requirement to half when he bagged three wickets. Ashwin bagged his first wicket in the second innings in the form of Ben Stokes, his bunny. This was the 11th instance of him dismissing the latter in Tests. Ollie Pope, became his 399th and Jofra Archer was accounted as Ashwin’s 400th wicket. 

It took just 77 matches for the Indian ace spinner to achieve the milestone, the second quickest after the maestro, Muttiah Muralitharan.

A spinners delight

The pink ball wasn’t a spinner friendly one, until this match. Prior to this match, spinners had a bowling strike rate of 65.2 as compared to pacers 49.7. However, this match defied the odds as 28 of the 30 wickets that fell this match had spinners name on it. In a day and night Test, this is the most wickets bagged by spinners. 

Previously, in 2017 at the Dubai International Stadium, 24 wickets belonged to the spinners when Pakistan played against Sri Lanka. 

Axar Patel makes a mark in his home ground

In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel has stepped into his shoes and has been excellent. In his debut Test, he bagged a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings at Chepauk. The oozing confidence was visible in the third Test as he went on to better it with a six-wicket haul and then followed it up with a five-for in the second innings. Axar bagged a wicket off his first ball in each of the innings. He registered match figures of 11/70, which is the best by a bowler in a Pink ball Test.

 Apart from this, there were few notable records Axar achieved during his magnificent run:

    Only two other Indian bowlers have five-wicket hauls in each of the first two matches played. Mohammad Nissar in 1932 and 1933 against England and Narendra Hirwani against West Indies (1988) and New Zealand (1988).  

    Axar joined Morne Morkel in an elite list of bowlers who have bagged a wicket of the first ball in Pink ball Tests. Morkel’s first ball dismissal was also the first ball of the innings against Zimbabwe in 2017.

    He became the first bowler to bag a five-wicket haul in both the innings of a Pink ball Test (6/38 and 5/32).

    Axar now has 18 wickets in his first two matches, only one Indian bowler has more than him. Narendra Hirwani, in his first two matches, had 24 wickets. In terms of five-wicket hauls, both Hirwani and Axar have three in their first two, the most among Indians. 

    Axar became the fourth spinner to take a wicket of the first ball of the Innings. Ravi Ashwin was the last spinner to achieve this in the first Test of this series in Chennai

England register their lowest total against India

In the first innings, England had already registered a low score of 112, their second-lowest total in India to be precise. That worsened in the second innings as they succumbed to their first-ever score of less than 100 against India in Tests. Before the 81 all out in the second innings, England were bundled out for 101 at The Oval in 1971, which was their lowest. 

In fact, this match was a record of lows. Here are a few others:

    193 – Runs scored by England this match, 112 in the first and 81 in the second. This is the least runs scored by a team against India in Tests after being all out in both the innings. 

    387 – Total runs scored in this match, which is the lowest aggregate a match has seen in Asia after batting all four innings. 

    842 – Balls played in this match, the shortest ever match to be completed post the World War II era (After 1945). 

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