Hot today, cold tomorrow

India's batsmen swung from one extreme to the other over the first two Tests against South Africa. In Chennai , they overhauled South Africa's 540 in the first innings by piling up 627, largely due to Virender Sehwag's rapid triple-hundred. However, when faced with a livelier pitch in Ahmedabad, India's batting crumbled for 76 against South Africa's battery of fast bowlers. The difference of 551 runs between the two totals is the ninth largest for a team in consecutive innings, which is the focus of this week's List.

The largest difference between totals in consecutive innings belongs to England, during the Ashes in 1938. In the fourth Test , at Headingley, England's openers, Bill Edrich and Charlie Barnett, wiped out the first-innings deficit by adding 60 before Bill O'Reilly and Chuck Fleetwood-Smith skittled them out for 123. England made three changes for the next Test at The Oval, bringing in Len Hutton, Maurice Leyland and Arthur Wood. All three replacements performed: Hutton broke the record for the highest individual Test score by making 364, Leyland scored 187 in a partnership of 382 with Hutton, and Wood contributed 53. England piled up the highest Test total at the time, 903 for 7, an improvement of 780 runs on their previous effort.

The second-highest difference in successive batting performances was also a result of a collapse, followed by a record-breaking innings. West Indies were decimated for 94 by England in Barbados in 2004, the second time they had been dismissed for below 100 in the series. The collapse allowed England to go 3-0 up in the series with one Test to play. In that game, in Antigua, Brian Lara scored 400 for the first time in Tests as West Indies accumulated 751 for 5, the highest total conceded by England ever.

In one-day internationals South Africa have experienced the largest slump in totals between innings. Mark Boucher cracked 147 off 68 balls - the fastest century by a South African - as they racked up 418 against Zimbabwe in Potchefstroom in 2006. It was the second time South Africa had gone past 400 that year and it helped complete a 3-0 series win. The next game South Africa played was against New Zealand in Mumbai during the Champions Trophy. The pitch was difficult to bat on - there was a puff of dust whenever the ball pitched - and South Africa were dismissed for 108, chasing a target of 196.

During the Australasia Cup in 1990, New Zealand recorded their highest ODI score, and the second highest overall at the time, when they scored 338 for 4 against a weak Bangladesh bowling attack. Andrew Jones was the top scorer, with 93 off 72 balls. Jones was the top scorer in the semi-final as well, against Pakistan. This time he made only 47 as New Zealand were routed for 74 by Waqar Younis. It was their second lowest total at the time.

The Ahmedabad Test between India and South Africa was also only the fourth time that all 11 players in a team improved on their first-innings scores in the second innings. Only two batsmen - Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan - got into double figures in the first innings when India were dismissed for 76. In the second, the top seven batsmen made double figures while the bottom four - Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh and Sreesanth - also bettered their first-innings performances.

However, there has been only one instance where all 11 batsmen in a team have scored more in the first innings compared to the second. It occurred during Bangladesh's baptism into Test cricket. They made a superb start, scoring 400 against India, but collapsed for 91 in the second innings with only two players, Habibul Bashar and Khaled Mahmud, reaching double figures. All of them scored fewer than they did in the first innings.

A similar instance occurred during the Auckland Test between New Zealand and England in 1955, when New Zealand were dismissed for 26 - the lowest total in Tests - after having scored 200 in the first innings. However, four batsmen scored ducks in the first and second innings and so didn't do better in either innings than they did in the other.

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