Stats highlights from the third Test between Australia and South Africa in Adelaide where Faf du Plessis declared on the score of 259

Shiva Jayaraman24-Nov-20162 Centuries by South African captains in Tests in Australia before Faf du Plessis’ 118 not out. Graeme Smith had scored both of them – at the same venue in 2012-13 and at the WACA in 2008-09. Overall, du Plessis’ hundred was only the seventh by a South Africa captain in Tests against Australia.97.40 Du Plessis’ batting average in Tests in Australia. He has made two hundreds and two fifties in just eight innings. At the Adelaide Oval, du Plessis has made 306 runs – scores of 78, 110* and 118* – in three innings. Overall, he has 701 runs at 63.72 in Tests against Australia. Only two other South Africa batsmen with at least 500 runs against Australia – Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock – average higher than du Plessis against them.108.33 Du Plessis’ strike rate against Mitchell Starc in his innings. He faced 48 balls from Starc and made 52 runs, 36 of which came off boundaries. The other South Africa batsmen scored only 24 runs off 91 deliveries from Starc at a strike rate of 26.37.

Faf du Plessis v Australia bowlers, 1st inns, Adelaide Test

Bowler Runs Balls 4s SR shots in control (%age)Mitchell Starc 52 48 9 108.33 91.67Josh Hazlewood 28 44 4 63.63 95.45Jackson Bird 21 32 2 65.62 90.62Nathan Lyon 17 40 2 42.50 92.501981 The last time Australia had five debutants in a Test series. They had handed out Test caps to Terry Alderman, Trevor Chappell, Martin Kent, Dirk Wellham and Mike Whitney in the Ashes series in England that year. While Callum Ferguson and Joe Mennie made their debuts in Hobart, this Test has three Australia debutants – Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson and Matt Renshaw.4 Number of times Josh Hazlewood has dismissed Hashim Amla in four innings in this series. This equals the most any bowler has dismissed Amla in a series. S Sreesanth had dismissed Amla four times in 69 deliveries during India’s tour of South Africa in 2006-07. Stuart Broad had got Amla four times from 207 balls in the Test series in South Africa in 2015-16. Hazlewood has bowled just 33 deliveries to Amla in this series so far.2/102 Score in the final session on the first day when artificial lights took over completely. The final session on the first day of the first floodlit Test at the Adelaide Oval had seen five wickets fall for 83 runs. However, the happenings in the first two sessions of the day were almost identical to the first Test: seven wickets fell for 171 runs in this Test. The first two sessions of the match between the hosts and New Zealand had seen seven wickets fall for 173 runs.Faf du Plessis declared South Africa’s innings at the Adelaide Oval with only 259 runs on the board – their second-lowest total on which they have declared in the first innings of a Test. The table below lists the 15 instances when teams have declared the first innings of a Test for a total of under 300 runs.

Teams declaring first inns of a Test at <300

Team Opposition Score Result Venue Match DateSouth Africa Australia 259/9d – Adelaide 24-Nov-16Australia India 237/9d lost Hyderabad (Deccan) 02-Mar-13New Zealand Bangladesh 262/6d draw Dhaka 25-Oct-08South Africa England 248/8d lost Centurion 14-Jan-00New Zealand Zimbabwe 230/8d draw Hamilton 13-Jan-96India New Zealand 296/8d draw Cuttack 08-Nov-95Australia India 207/3d draw Delhi 26-Sep-86New Zealand Australia 266/7d draw Wellington 26-Feb-82Pakistan England 130/9d draw Lord’s 08-Aug-74England Pakistan 241/2d draw Lord’s 17-Jun-71England Australia 216/8d draw Nottingham 04-Jun-64England Australia 217/8d draw Nottingham 07-Jun-56West Indies England 297/8d won Georgetown 03-Mar-48England West Indies 164/7d draw Manchester 22-Jul-39Australia England 200/9d won Melbourne 01-Jan-37The balls faced by South Africa – 456 – were sixth on the list of fewest deliveries of a first innings of a Test before declaration.

Least balls played before declaration (1st inns of Tests)

Team Opposition Overs Score Result Venue Start Date Pakistan England 44.5 130/9d draw Lord’s 08-Aug-74South Africa England 72 248/8d lost Centurion 14-Jan-00England West Indies 55.2×8 164/7d draw Manchester 22-Jul-39New Zealand Bangladesh 75 262/6d draw Dhaka 25-Oct-08Australia India 75.4 207/3d draw Delhi 26-Sep-86South Africa Australia 76 259/9d – Adelaide 24-Nov-16In fact, this is the lowest team total at which a captain unbeaten at the crease has declared the first innings of a Test. The only other instance when an unbeaten captain chose to declare the first innings of a Test with a total of under 300 runs was when Geoff Howarth called New Zealand’s innings off while batting on 58* in the Wellington Test against Australia in 1982. That decision was, perhaps, forced by weather conditions with the first day of the Test already lost to rain.

Lowest team scores on which unbeaten captains have declared (1st inns of Tests)

Captain Captain’s Score team opposition Team total Match DateFaf du Plessis 118* SA AUS 259/9 24-Nov-16Geoff Howarth 58* NZ AUS 266/7 26-Feb-82Nasser Hussain 146* ENG SA 366/9 26-Dec-99Hanif Mohammad 203* PAK NZ 385/7 02-Apr-65Michael Vaughan 82* ENG SA 411/8 13-Jan-05