Pujara passes 2000 runs in a year

Stats highlights of the third day's play between South Africa and India at the Wanderers

20-Dec-2013

Cheteshwar Pujara gets off the ground to cut, South Africa v India, 1st Test, Johannesburg, 3rd day, December 20, 2013

Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 135 was his sixth Test century and his first away from home. He also completed 2000 first-class runs in 2013 during the innings. He's scored 2043 runs at 102.15 in first-class matches this year. Only Chris Rogers, with 2391 runs at 48.79 from 28 matches, has more in 2013.

Virat Kohli followed his century in the first innings with an unbeaten 77, becoming only the second Indian batsman after Rahul Dravid to get a hundred and a fifty in a Test in South Africa. Only four India batsmen have managed to hit two fifty-plus scores in a Test in South Africa, and three of them did it at the Wanderers.

For Kohli, though, this is the second time he has hit a hundred and a fifty in a Test. He had done it against New Zealand in Bangalore in 2012. His present aggregate of 196 in this match is his highest in 21 Tests.

Shikhar Dhawan's wicket was Vernon Philander's 100th in Tests. Philander is now the fastest South African bowler and the joint sixth-fastest of all time to the landmark, having reached it in 19 matches. Before Philander, Dale Steyn was the fastest South African bowler to take 100 wickets.

Philander is joint fourth in the list of fast bowlers quickest to 100 Test wickets. George Lohmann (16 matches), Charlie Turner (17) and Sydney Barnes (17) reached the landmark in fewer Tests. Andy Roberts (19) and Ian Botham (19) took as many matches as Philander but only Lohmann had a lower strike rate than Philander's.

Strike rate comparison of fast bowlers quickest to 100 wickets in Tests
Bowler	Mat	Wkts	Ave	SR*
George Lohmann	16	101	10.55	33.9
Vernon Philander	19	100	17.77	38.7
Ian Botham	19	100	18.97	44.7
Andy Roberts	19	102	21.42	47.1
Charlie Turner	17	101	16.53	51.2
Sydney Barnes	17	101	21.44	53.2

* Strike rate at the end of the match except for Philander's

India's 284 in the second innings is the second time they have scored 250 or more in both innings of a Test in South Africa. The last occasion was also at the Wanderers, in 1997. This is also only the ninth time they have scored 250 or more outside the subcontinent in the second innings before the fall of the third wicket. The last instance was in Napier in 2009. Including this Test, there have been only three other instances since 2000.

The 191-run unbroken partnership between Virat Kohli and Pujara is already India's third highest in South Africa, and their highest in the second innings of a Test in South Africa. Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar added 222 runs for the sixth wicket in Cape Town in 1997, which is the highest partnership for India in South Africa for any wicket.

South Africa's bowlers have largely dominated the opposition in home Tests in the last couple of years. So much so that their collective economy rate of 3.51 in India's second innings was their worst at home since 2012.

Philander's 59 in South Africa's first innings was his third fifty in Tests and the second-highest score by a South Africa No.8 against India in Tests. Mark Boucher's unbeaten 68 in Port Elizabeth in 2001 is the highest score by a No.8 South African batsman against India.

Pujara paced his innings well today. He started cautiously, scoring 6 off the first 50 balls he faced. Once he got used to the conditions and the bowlers, he started scoring at a faster pace - 25 off the next 50 deliveries. He began to accelerate when South Africa turned to spin bowlers, scoring 95 from the next 100, before slowing down again by making just nine off the last 21.

Pujara's innings in blocks of 50 deliveries
Deliveries	Runs	Balls	SR
1-50	6	50	12.00
51-100	25	50	50.00
101-150	43	50	86.00
151-200	52	50	104.00
201-221	9	21	42.85

Cheteshwar Pujara Virat Kohli Vernon Philander South Africa India South Africa vs India India tour of South Africa

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