Sunday, December 15, 2013

Quinton de Kock’s batting feats and India’s dubious world record

It was after winning six straight series that India landed into South Africa to play a three-match ODI series. Naturally the expectations were high, but the Indians were up against a South African side that has always been a formidable unit at home. Indian bowling had been below average for most of the year, but batting made up for bowlers’ incompetence more often than not. However, both Indian bowling and batting were left cruelly exposed on South Africa’s bouncy tracks. While the bowlers failed to deliver even in the helpful conditions; Indian batsmen came a cropper against the likes of Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne Morkel, Ryan McLaren and Vernon Philander.


India lost the first one-dayer at Johannesburg by 141 runs and followed it up with a 134-run defeat at Durban. They were saved by weather gods in the third one-dayer at Centurion chasing a target in excess of 300. Never before a side ranked number one in ODIs had suffered the ignominy of losing two consecutive matches by a margin of more than hundred runs.

In the first one-dayer at Johannesburg, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock put on 152 runs for the first wicket after South Africa were put in to bat by India. This was South Africa's first century stand for the opening wicket in 68 ODIs. Interestingly the last century opening stand for South Africa had also come against India when Loots Bosman and Hashim Amla put on 113 at Ahmedabad in 2010.  Quinton de Kock went on to score his second ODI hundred and his highest score in ODIs and became youngest South African and fifth youngest player overall to score a ODI hundred against India.

Indian bowling was put to sword by AB de Villiers and JP Duminy towards the end. South Africa scored 135 runs in the last 10 overs. Duminy raced to his fifty off just 25 balls- fastest by a South Africa batsman against India and also the fastest by any batsman against India outside the sub-continent. Incidentally this was the fourth instance this year alone when India conceded 100 or more runs in the last 10 overs. South Africa ended with 358 for four - their second highest against India after 365 for two they made at Ahmedabad in 2010.

When Shikhar Dhawan hit Tsotsobe for a boundary at mid-off, India became the highest  run-scoring team in ODI history, surpassing Australia’s tally of 1,82,881 runs. However, the batting soon fell apart and India were handed a crushing 141-run defeat – their second biggest defeat against South Africa  after 157-run drubbing at Durban in 2006. Only MS Dhoni showed some resolve with 65 off 71 balls, becoming India's highest run-scoring captain in ODIs, surpassing Mohammad Azharuddin’s record.

The pair of Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla went even further in the second ODI at Durban, adding 194 runs for the first wicket- South Africa’s highest opening stand at home, obliterating 190-run partnership between Gary Kirsten and Mike Rindel against Pakistan at Johannesburg in 1995. The pair provided only the second instance of an opening pair putting on 150-plus partnerships in successive matches. Pakistan’s Taufeeq Umar and Salim Elahi had added 159 and 154 against Zimbabwe in 2002. The pair also became the fifth pair to put on successive 150-plus partnerships for any wicket in ODIs.

Both de Kock and Amla completed their hundreds. Amla completed his 4,000 ODI runs during the course of his innings of 100. By taking just 81 innings, Amla became the quickest to accomplish this feat, wresting the record from Viv Richards who did so in 88 innings. Incidentally Amla is also the quickest to 2,000 runs (41 innings) and also 3,000 runs (57 innings). Amla also became the quickest to score 12 ODI hundreds, breaking Virat Kohli’s record who reached this mark in 83 innings.

Two of India’s most successful batsmen in 2013 - Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli- were dismissed for ducks and India were never in the game thereafter and lost the game by 134 runs. The last time India suffered defeat by 100-plus runs in back to back matches was in 2006 –also against South Africa! India were dismissed for 146 in 35.1 overs. South Africa had lost their first wicket after exactly 35.1 overs!  The defeat meant India have not yet beaten South Africa in a one-day international at Durban. Out of seven ODIs they played here, India lost six while one match did not produce any result.

The defeat also meant India kept their record of never winning a bilateral series in South Africa intact. In fact South Africa have lost to a sub-continent side only once at home. That was recently when Pakistan beat them 2-1.

Quinton de Kock made four dismissals to complete a grand allround performance. He thus became the first wicketkeeper to score a hundred and effect four dismissals in a match against India. Quinton de Kock also became only the second South African wicketkeeper to perform the allround feat of scoring a hundred and making four dismissals in the same match, after AB de Villiers who made 101* and took four catches against Zimbabwe at Potchefstroom in 2010.

In the third match at Centurion, Quinton de Kock equalled a world record by scoring yet another hundred – his third on the trot. He became sixth batsman to score three consecutive hundreds in the ODIs. He, however, is the only one to do so in a three-match series. Quinton de Kock’s tally of 342 runs in the series is also the highest for a batsman in a three-match series. He also became the quickest to score four ODI hundreds. Interestingly de Kock has now scored four hundreds in his ODI career without ever recording a score between 50 and 99.  Quinton de Kock is only the second batsman – after Ireland’s Paul Stirling- to score four hundreds before turning 21.

For a change India managed to break the opening partnership quite early. They had South Africa in some sort of bother at 28 for three, but again let them off the hook. South Africa ended with 301 for 8 riding on de Kock and AB de Villiers’ knocks. They scored 167 runs in the last 20 overs after making just 134 in the first 30 overs. This was the tenth time India conceded a 300-plus total in 2013. They now hold the dubious distinction of conceding most 300-plus totals in a calendar year in ODI history.

Sides conceding most 300+ totals in a calendar year
 Team
300+ totals
Year
India
10
2013
India
9
2009
India
8
2007
Sri Lanka
8
2009
England
7
2011
Zimbabwe
6
2002
West Indies
6
2007
Bangladesh
6
2008
Sri Lanka
6
2012

India losing consecutive ODIs by 100+ runs
  Date
Opponents
Venue
Result
Batted 1st
Batted 2nd
 04 Apr 1999
Pakistan
Bangalore
Pak won by 123 runs
Pak-291-8 (50)
Ind-168 (42.1)
 08 Apr 1999
Pakistan
Sharjah
Pak won by 116 runs
Pak-279-8 (50)
Ind-163-6 (50)

 26 Jan 2000
Australia
Adelaide
Aus won by  152 runs
Aus 329-5 (50)
Ind 177 (46.5)
 28 Jan 2000
Pakistan
Perth
Pak won by 104 runs
Pak 261-8 (50)
Ind 157 (46)

 22 Nov 2006
South Africa
Durban
SA won by 157 runs
SA 248-8 (50)
Ind 91 (29.1)
 26 Nov 2006
South Africa
Cape Town
SA won by 106 runs
SA 274-7 (50)
Ind 168 (41.3)

 05 Dec 2013
South Africa
Johannesburg
SA won by 157 runs
SA 358-4 (50)
Ind 217 (41)
 08 Dec 2013
South Africa
Durban
SA won by 134 runs
SA 280-6 (49)
Ind 146 (35.1)

150+ partnership in consecutive ODIs by the same pair
Batsmen
Runs
Wkt
Opponents
Venue
Date
AP Gurusinha & PA de Silva (SL)
172
3rd
Zimbabwe
Colombo SSC
21-02-1996
184
3rd
Kenya
Kandy
06-03-1996
Saeed Anwar & Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak)
157*
3rd
New Zealand
Sharjah
12-04-2001
172
3rd
Sri Lanka
Sharjah
13-04-2001
Mohammad Yousuf & Younis Khan (Pak)
155
5th
Sri Lanka
Sharjah
17-04-2002
161
4th
New Zealand
Karachi
21-04-2002
Taufeeq Umar & Saleem Elahi (Pak)
159
1st
Zimbabwe
Bulawayo
24-11-2002
154
1st
Zimbabwe
Harare
27-11-2002
Hashim Amla & Quinton de Kock (SA)
152
1st
India
Johannesburg
05-12-2013
194
1st
India
Durban
08-12-2013

Batsmen scoring three consecutive ODI hundreds
Batsman
Runs
Vs
Venue
Date
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)
118
Ind
Multan      
17-12-1982
105
Ind
Lahore      
31-12-1982
113
Ind
Karachi     
21-01-1983
Saeed Anwar (Pak)
107
SL
Sharjah     
30-10-1993
131
WI
Sharjah     
01-11-1993
111
SL
Sharjah     
02-11-1993
Herschelle Gibbs (SA)
116
Ken
Colombo RPS
20-09-2002
116*
Ind
Colombo RPS
25-09-2002
153
Ban
Potchefstroom
03-10-2002
AB de Villiers (SA)
114*
Ind
Gwalior
24-02-2010
102*
Ind
Ahmedabad 
27-02-2010
102
WI
North Sound
22-05-2010
Quinton de Kock (SA)
134
Ind
Johannesburg
05-12-2013
106
Ind
Durban
08-12-2013
101
Ind
Centurion
11-12-2013

Most hundreds before scoring a fifty in ODIs
100s
Batsman
Years
Scores
4*
Quinton de Kock (SA)
2013
112, 135, 106, 101
3
Dennis Amiss (Eng)
1972-1975
103, 100, 137
3
Kamran Akmal (Pak)
2002-2005
124, 102, 109

Most runs in a three-match series
Runs
For
Opponents
Host
Year
342
Quinton de Kock (SA)
India
South Africa
2013
330
Martin Guptill (NZ)
England
England
2013
310
Brendan Taylor (Zim)
New Zealand
Zimbabwe
2011
294
Shane Watson (Aus)
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
2011
289
Graham Gooch (Eng)
Australia
England
1984
276
Viv Richards (WI)
England
England
1984

Youngest to score an ODI hundred vs India
Age
Player
For
Score
Venue
Year
18 Yrs 202 Days
Shahid Afridi
Pak
109
Toronto
1998
20 Yrs 37 Days
Salman Butt
Pak
108*
Kolkata
2004
20 Yrs 199 Days
Dinesh Chandimal
SL
111
Harare
2010
20 Yrs 266 Days
Ricardo Powell
WI
124
Singapore
1999
20 Yrs 353 Days
Quinton de Kock
SA
135
Johannesburg
2013
Note: Quiinton de Kock now holds the record of being the youngest South African to score an ODI hundred both at home and outside South Africa. He had made 112 against Pakistan at the age of 20 years 326 days at Abu Dhabi last month.

Quickest to score hundreds 1- 49 in one-day internationals
100 #
Batsman
Innings taken
1
Dennis Amiss (Eng), Desmond Haynes (WI), Andy Flower (Zim), Salim Elahi (Pak), Shahid Afridi (Pak), Martin Guptill (NZ), Colin Ingram (SA), Rob Nicol (NZ), Phil Hughes (Aus)
1
2
Nick Knight (Eng) & Mohammad Shahzad (Afg)
3
3
Dennis Amiss (Eng) & Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
9
4
Quinton de Kock (SA)
16
5
Upul Tharanga (SL)
28
6
Upul Tharanga (SL)
29
7
Hashim Amla (SA)
41
8
Hashim Amla (SA)
43
9
Hashim Amla (SA)
52
10
Hashim Amla (SA)
57
11
Hashim Amla (SA)
64
12
Hashim Amla (SA)
81
13
Virat Kohli (Ind)
86
14
Virat Kohli (Ind)
103
15
Virat Kohli (Ind)
106
16
Virat Kohli (Ind)
110
17
Virat Kohli (Ind)
112
18
Sourav Ganguly (Ind)
174
19
Chris Gayle (WI)
189
20-49
Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)
197-451

 Quickest to 4,000 runs in ODIs
Inns
Player
Avg
100s
50s
Age
Days since debut
81
Hashim Amla (SA)
53.88
12
23
30 Yrs 252 Days
2100
88
Viv Richards (WI)
54.57
8
27
33 Yrs 38 Days
3599
93
Virat Kohli (Ind)
50.35
13
22
24 Yrs 75 Days
1615
96
Gordon Greenidge (WI)
46.08
9
24
37 Yrs 20 Days
4728
100
Brian Lara (WI)
45.49
8
28
26 Yrs 333 Days
1968
102
Dean Jones (Aus)
49.37
6
30
29 Yrs 262 Days
2507
105
AB de Villiers (SA)
45.07
9
24
26 Yrs 264 Days
2105
105
Sourav Ganguly (Ind)
41.24
7
27
27 Yrs 52 Days
2787
106
Geoff Marsh (Aus)
40.75
9
20
32 Yrs 352 Days
2164
107
Graeme Smith (SA)
39.75
6
26
26 Yrs 61 Days
1830
108
Graham Gooch (Eng)
39.47
8
23
39 Yrs 28 Days
5838
109
Navjot Sidhu (Ind)
39.82
6
32
34 Yrs 55 Days
3719

Most runs conceded by India in last 10 overs (41-50)
Runs-wkts
For
Venue
Year
135-2
South Africa
Johannesburg
2013
124-0
Sri Lanka
Kingston
2013
122-0
South Africa
Ahmedabad
2010
122-2
Australia
Jaipur
2013
121-4
New Zealand
Christchurch
1999
120-2
West Indies
Vijaywada
2002