On Thursday as Dean Elgar led South Africa to a 7-wicket win in Johannesburg and levelled the series by 1-1 with one test to go, let’s look back at some relevant numbers for this match.
Fortress Breached:
This is South Africa’s first-ever win against India at this venue. Previously India played 5 Test matches here with 2 wins and 3 draws. Now Georgetown, Guyana is the only venue where India played more than 5 Test matches without losing any match.
Highest Successful Chase for the Proteas:
The target of 240 is also the highest successful chase for South Africa at The Wanderers, Johannesburg. Previously the Proteas chased down the target of 220 against New Zealand in 2006 at this venue.
However Australia held the record of two highest successful chases at this venue- In 2011, they chased down the target of 310 while in 2006 they scored 294/8 in the fourth innings to get the better of the hosts.
Also, it’s the third-highest chase ever against India In Test Cricket. Only Australia (342/8) at Perth 1977 and West Indies (276/5) at Delhi 1987 are ahead in terms of successful 4th innings chases against India in Test Cricket.
Dean Elgar- Third time lucky!
This is Dean Elgar’s third 50+ score in 4th innings against India but this is the first time he managed to take his team home. He was stranded on 86 when India scripted a historic win at Johannesburg in the last tour 2017-18 and in the first test of this series at Centurion, South Africa fell short by 113 runs in 4th innings despite his terrific effort of 77.
Steak broken:
This is South Africa’s first win against India in the last 6 Test matches. Proteas lost the last test of the series in the 2017-18 tour then India clean swept them by 3-0 at home in the 2019-20 series. Again in this series, India started brilliantly with a 113-run win at Centurion. Before this win, the last time they beat India, was at Centurion in 2018.
Unlucky Shardul:
Shardul Thakur’s terrific spell (7/61) in the first innings brought India back in the game but as of now, he holds an unwanted record. 7/61 is the best figure in losing cause for any visiting bowler in South Africa. In fact, it’s the second-best figures for any bowler in a losing cause in this country- only Hugh Tayfield 7/23 against Australia at Durban 1950 is ahead of him in this list.
Overall this is the third-best figures against South Africa in a losing cause- Mitchell Johnson (8/61) at Perth 2008 and Shane Warne (7/56) at Sydney 1994 are ahead of him.