Mohali Test – Third day’s highlights
VVS Laxman’s tally of catches against Australia stood at 30 when he caught TD Paine of Zaheer Khan for 92 in Australi’as first innings. He became the second Indian fieldsman to pouch 30 plus catches against Australia, after R Dravid who has to his credit 46 catches.
VVS Laxman became the twelfth fieldsman in the annals of test cricket to have a tally of 30 plus catches against Australia. Others are – IT Botham of Australia {57}; R Dravid of India {46}; WR Hammond of England {43}; MC Cowdrey of England {40}; WG Grace of England {39}; CL Hooper of West Indies {38}; LC Braund of England {37}; AW Greig of England {37}; W Rhodes of Australia {36}; FE Woolley of Australia {36} and; BC Lara of West Indies {34}
R Dravid’s single of MJ Johnson in 40.1 over of India’s innings gave a three run partnership for R Dravid and SR Tendulkar in their fourth wicket partnership in India’s innings and they became the third pair of batsmen to have an aggregate of 6000 plus runs.
At the end of third day’s play, the pair had 6076 runs from 122 innings. Other two pairs are – CG Greenidge-DL Haynes of West Indies {6482 runs from 148 innings} and ML Hayden-JL Langer of Australia {6081 runs from 122 innings}.
R Dravid’s 77 gave him his 59th half-century and 88th fifty. With 88 fifties he is on par with JH Kallis who also has scored 88 fifties and share the joint fourth place amongst the batsmen who have scored most fifties. SR Tendulkar {105}, RT Ponting {92} and AR Border {90} occupy the first three places.
R Dravid’s 77 in this test provide his 12th half century against Australia. He has an aggregate of 1914 runs against Australia. His knock provides the 10th half century against Australia while batting at number three. He earns the distinction of becoming the first batsman to score ten half centuries against Australia while batting at number three.
R Dravid became the third batsman in the annals of test cricket to score ten or more half centuries against a specific opposition while batting at number three. He achieved this feat when he scored his tenth half century against Australia by scoring 77 in this test. Other two batsmen to have achieved this feat are – IM Chappell of Australia – 12 half centuries against England and C Hill of Australia – 11 half centuries against England. R Dravid s became the first Indian batsman to score ten or more half centuries against a specific opposition while batting at number three.
R Dravid’s 12 half centuries against Australia provide the fifth occasion of an Indian batsman scoring 12 or more half centuries against a specific opposition. Others are – SM Gavaskar {15} vs England, SM Gavaskar {12} vs Pakistan, SR Tendulkar {12} vs Australia and GR Viswanath {12} vs England. SR Tendulkar 12th half century against Australia came in this test when he made 98.
R Dravid is one of the three batsmen in the annals of test cricket to score 10 or more fifties against three specific opponents. Others are – RB Kanhai of West Indies and RT Ponting of Australia. The feats of these three batsmen are – R Dravid – {11 fifties vs Aus ; 10 fifties vs NZl ; 10 fifties vs Srl} : RB Kahnai – {10 fifties vs Aus ; 12 fifties vs Eng ; 10 fifties vs Ind} and RT Ponting – {15 fifties vs Eng ; 15 fifties vs Eng ; 10 fifties vs Win}
SR Tendulkar scored 98 in this test, which represents his 12th half century against Australia. It was also his 57th half-century and 105th fifty.
R Dravid’s 77 and SR Tendulkar’s 98 in this test represent their 25th half centuries on home soil. They became the 10th and 11th batsmen in the annals of test cricket to score 25 or more half centuries on home soil. Others are – AR Border of {35}; RT Ponting {33}; MA Athterton {31}; JH Kallis {31}; SR Waugh {30}; S Chanderpaul {26}; GA Gooch {26}; BC Lara {26} and DPMD Jayawardene {25}
SR Tendulkar’s 98 in this test gave him his 46th fifty on home soil, He now occupies the fourth place amongst the batsmen who have scored most fifties on home soil. RT Ponting {54}, JH Kallis {49} and AR Border {48} occupy the first three places. SR Tendulkar went past SR Waugh’s 45 fifties on his way to fourth place.
SR Tendulkar’s 98 in this test represent his eighth ninety in a test innings. Others are – 96 vs Sri Lanka at Bangalore in Jan 94; 92 vs West Indies at Bridgetown in Mar 97; 97 vs South Africa at Mumbai-WS in Feb 00; 90 vs England at Bangalore in Dec 2001; 92 vs England at Nottingham in Aug 2002; 94 vs Pakistan at Mohali in Mar 2005 and 91 vs England at Nottingham in Jul 2007. Thus his 98 in this test represent the highest score amongst the eight nineties he has scored
It also represents his second ninety at Mohali, the first being his 94 against Pakistan in Mar 2005. It also represents his first ninety against Australia
SR Tendulkar with his eight nineties became the sixth batsman in the annals of test cricket to score eight or more nineties. Others are – R Dravid {10}, SR Waugh {10}, MJ Slater {09}, Inzamam-ul-Huq {08}, AI Kallicharan {08} and ML Hayden {08}
SR Tendulkar’s 98 in this test provide the 38th occasion of a batsman scoring a ninety in India-Australia test series. His knock provides the 19th occasion of and Indian batsman scoring a ninety against Australia. SR Tendulkar became the first batsman to score exact 98 in India-Australia test series
TD Paine {92} and SR Tendulkar {98} scored nineties in the first and second innings of this test providing the second such occasion in India-Australia test series. The other occasion was – KJ Hughes of Australia {92} and GR Viswanath of India {96} has scored nineties in the first and second innings of the test at Kolkata in Oct 1979.
Apart from the captioned two occasions, there is one more occasions of rival batsmen scoring nineties in a test match – MEK Hussey of Australia {90} and V Sehwag of India {92} scored nineties in the second and third innings of the test at Nagpur in Nov 2008.
V Sehwag {59},
R Dravid {77}, SR Tendulkar {98} and SK Raina {86} scored fifties in this test to provide the seventh occasion of four or more batsmen scoring fifties in a test innings against Australia.
SR Tendulkar and SK Raina added 124 runs for the fifth wicket in this test providing the 80th occasion of Indian batsmen posting a three-figure partnership against Australia. This stand also represents the 12th occasion of a a three-figure partnership for the fifth wicket against Australia.
This stand of 124 runs with SK Raina gave SR Tendulkar his 78th three-figure partnership. Only R Dravid {82} and RT Ponting {79} are ahead of SR Tendulkar in terms of three-figure partnerships.
This partnership of 124 runs with SK Raina gave SR Tendulkar his 20th three-figure partnership for the fifth wicket. He became the third batsman in the annals of test cricket to have 20 plus three-figure partnerships. Others are – SR Waugh {23} and SC Chanderpaul {20}
MG Johnson captured 5 for 64 in this test providing the 43rd occasion of an Australian bowler capturing five or more wickets against India.
MG Johnson’s 5 for 64 represents his sixth five wicket haul of his test career and his first against India. The other five occasions are – 8 for 61 vs South Africa in Dec 2008, 6 for 73 vs New Zealand at Hamilton in Mar 2010, 5 for 29 vs New Zealand at Brisbane in Nov 2008, 5 for 69 vs England at Leeds in Aug 2009 and 5 for 103 vs West Indies at Adelaide in Dec 2009.
Zaheer Khan {5 for 94} and MJ Johnson {5 for 64] captured five wickets in the first and second innings of this test providing the eleventh occasion of rival bowlers capturing five or more wickets in the first and second innings of a test match in India-Australia test series.