As India and South Africa are all set for the decider at Newlands, Cape Town, let’s look at some relevant numbers for this test.
Another Test, Another Fortress?
This series has thrown up an interesting pattern so far. When India beat South Africa in the first test at Centurion, it was their first-ever test win at that venue. In the same way, India never lost a test match at Johannesburg before this series but South Africa managed to breach that fortress as well in the second test.
So will the pattern continue? As India never won a Test match here at Cape Town so will they be able to conquer another fortress? India played 5 test matches at this venue and lost 3 of them while the other two ended in a draw.
8000-club for Virat Kohli:
As Virat Kohli is all set to play his 99th Test match, he is just 146 runs away to become the 6th Indian batter to score 8000 Test runs. Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13288), Sunil Gavaskar (10122), VVS Laxman (8781), Virender Sehwag (8586) are the other members of this exclusive club.
However, in the only test he played here at Cape Town, he scored 5 and 28 in his two innings in 2018.
Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane is also 79 runs away to complete his 5000 Test runs.
Ashwin just 5-wickets away to break Kapil Dev’s record:
Ravichandran Ashwin needs another 5 wickets to become India’s 2nd successful Test bowler behind Anil Kumble (619). Currently, Kapil Dev stands at no.2 with 434 wickets. Ashwin picked 430 wickets in 83 matches.
He can take inspiration from Harbhajan Singh as the former off-spinner produced a terrific spell of 7/120 at this ground in 2011 which has been the best bowling figure by any spinner in South Africa for the last 50 years.
Coincidentally Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth are the only two Indian bowlers who picked a fifer at this ground.
Catch it!
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane need another two and one catch respectively to reach the milestone of 100 catches in Test cricket. Only five Indian players- Rahul Dravid (210), VVS Laxman (135), Sachin Tendulkar (115), Sunil Gavaskar (108), and Mohammad Azharuddin (105) have achieved this milestone before.
50th Test match for Kagiso Rabada:
This will be the 50th Test match for Kagiso Rabada. In 49 Tests he picked 226 wickets with an average of 22.57 with 10 fifers. His record at this venue is quite phenomenal too as he picked 35 wickets in 6 Tests with a strike rate of 34.2.
Head-to-head record:
South Africa is currently leading the head-to-head battle against India with 16-15 while in South Africa, the visitors could win only 4 games as opposed to 11 by the hosts.
Since readmission, South Africa had a brilliant record at this venue as they won 23 games out of 34 here and lost only 5 games. Though in the last game here in 2020, England beat the hosts by 189 runs.
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