Australia end international away-series win drought

Stats highlights from Australia's series-clinching win in Cape Town

05-Mar-2014

Mitchell Johnson exults after removing Graeme Smith, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Port Elizabeth, 3rd day, February 22, 2014

Australia won their first overseas Test series in almost two years. Their previous victory was in West Indies in 2012. Since then, they had lost a Test series in India 4-0, and the Ashes in England 3-0.

Excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, Australia's win was the first away series success for a Test side since November 2012, when England won a series in India 2-1 and South Africa won 1-0 in Australia. Since then, there had been 16 Test series that ended in a draw or in a win for the home side.

Australia are one of only two teams to beat South Africa at home since their readmission to Test cricket in 1992. The other team, England, have done so only once in 2004-05. Australia won five of the seven series and haven't lost yet in South Africa

The 2-1 loss was South Africa's first for 16 series. Australia had handed them their last series defeat too, in 2008-09. Since then South Africa had won eight Test series and drawn six.

South Africa's batsmen averaged 14.54 runs per wicket fewer than Australia's batsmen in this series. Since 1992, this is the second highest difference in average between South Africa's batsmen and their opposition in a home series. The highest also came against Australia, in the 2001-02 series, when South Africa's batsmen averaged 17.44 runs fewer than Australia's batsmen.

Graeme Smith was the 13th South Africa captain to lose his last Test. Only three players have won their last Test as South Africa captain - Hansie Cronje, Ali Bacher and Peter van der Merwe. Nummy Deane and Henry Taberer drew their last Test as captains.

Mitchell Johnson's 22 wickets are the second most by a fast bowler in three-Test series in South Africa after George Lohmann's 35 in a series in 1895-96.

AB de Villiers had batted for 326 minutes and faced 228 deliveries by the time he was dismissed by Ryan Harris. No other batsman had faced more deliveries in the fourth innings of a Test at Newlands. Australia's Ian Redpath had faced 216 deliveries for his unbeaten 47 against the hosts in 1970.

De Villiers' also faced the second highest number of balls (since balls faced information is available) by a South Africa batsman in the fourth innings at home. Faf du Plessis batted 309 deliveries against India to save the Johannesburg Test last year.

De Villiers' 326-minute vigil is also the longest any batsman has batted in the fourth innings at the venue (since minutes batted information is available).

De Villiers scored only 43 runs. His strike rate was 18.85 - the second slowest innings ever in South Africa (200 or more deliveries). Jack Russell's 235-ball unbeaten 29 against the hosts in Johannesburg in 1995 is the slowest such innings in South Africa. This innings ranks third in terms of the slowest strike rates for de Villiers in innings of 100 or more balls. His 220-ball 33 in the famous draw at the Adelaide Oval last year is his slowest.

Nightwatchman Kyle Abbott kept de Villiers company for 29.3 overs, scoring just seven runs off 89 deliveries. Only Geoff Miller, who faced 101 balls against Australia at the MCG in 1978-79, has taken more deliveries to make a score of 7.

Since 2011, South Africa batsmen have dominated the opposition bowlers in Tests at home, with their top order (No. 1 to No. 7) averaging 40.51 per wicket and scoring 51 fifty-plus scores. During this period, there have been only three innings when South Africa's top-seven batsmen all failed to score a fifty (or more). All three were against Australia, two of them in Cape Town.

Vernon Philander's rearguard lasted 109 deliveries before he ran out of partners. It was the most balls a No. 9 has batted in the fourth innings of a Test and only the fourth time such an innings has lasted 100 deliveries or more.

Philander's fifty was also only the seventh by a No. 9 batsman in the fourth innings of a Test and only eight runs short of the highest fourth-innings score by a No. 9 - Jimmy Blanckenberg's 59 against England in Johannesburg in 1913-14.

Kyle Abbott Vernon Philander Mitchell Johnson AB de Villiers South Africa Australia South Africa vs Australia Australia tour of South Africa

Shiva Jayaraman is a sub-editor(stats) at ESPNcricinfo.com