Cook's day out at Eden

Stats highlights from the second day of the third Test between India and England in Kolkata

06-Dec-2012

Alastair Cook went on to make his 23rd Test century - the most for England, India v England, 3rd Test, Kolkata, 2nd day, December 6, 2012

After bowling India out for a below-par 316, England established a solid platform on day two. Here are highlights from a day dominated yet again by the incredibly consistent Alastair Cook.

Alastair Cook's century is his 23rd in Tests. He is now on top of the list of England batsmen with the most centuries in Tests. In the previous Test, Cook and Kevin Pietersen had gone level with the previous record of 22 centuries, jointly held by Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoff Boycott. Cook's century is also his third in the series. He is one of only five overseas batsmen to score three or more centuries in a series in India. Cook is also one of only 11 visiting batsmen to face over 1000 deliveries in a series in India.

Cook has now scored five centuries in his first five Tests as captain. Cook's century is also his seventh in the subcontinent, Among non-subcontinent batsmen, only Jacques Kallis has more centuries in the subcontinent (8). Cook's present aggregate in the series (493) is also the highest by an England captain in a series in India surpassing Ted Dexter's previous record of 409 runs in 1961. Overall, Cook's series aggregate is the fifth-highest for a visiting captain in India. Clive Lloyd holds the record with 636 runs in the 1974-75 series.

Cook also became the tenth England batsman to pass the 7000-run mark. He broke Sachin Tendulkar's record by becoming the youngest player to reach the landmark. Among the ten England players, only Cook and Hammond have a 50-plus average. Cook, who passed 7000 runs in his 151st innings, is the third-fastest England batsman to reach the mark after Hammond (131 innings) and Pietersen (150 innings).

For the first time since his tenth Test (against Australia in 2006), Cook's average rose above 50. In between, the lowest his average fell to (40.87) was in his 37th Test, against West Indies, in 2009.

Cook had a very even distribution of runs on the off side (70 runs) and leg side (66 runs). In contrast, he scored 57% and 63% of his runs on the leg side during his centuries in Ahmedabad and Mumbai respectively. Of his 19 fours in the innings, nine were scored behind square. He scored the most runs (50) off Ashwin followed by Zaheer Khan (39 runs). His highest scoring rate (3.96) came off the bowling of Zaheer followed by Ojha (3.60).

Nick Compton scored his maiden half-century in his third Test. The 165-run stand between Cook and Compton is the sixth-highest opening partnership for England in Tests against India and the second-highest for England in India. Since 2000, England hold the record for the most centuries (7) by opening batsmen in Tests in India.

Among Indian venues, Eden Gardens holds the record for the most centuries scored in Tests played since 2000 (31 centuries). Ahmedabad is a distant second with 23 centuries. Fifteen of the 31 centuries in Kolkata have been scored by visiting batsmen.

In his last four innings, R Ashwin has picked up three wickets and conceded 346 runs (average 115.33). However, in 16 innings prior to the second innings in Ahmedabad, Ashwin picked up 52 wickets at an average of 26.63.

Alastair Cook India England India vs England England tour of India Eden Gardens

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan is a sub-editor (stats) at ESPNcricinfo