Australia vs India 2014/15 - 4th Test: Day 1 in Numbers
Australia finished day one of the fourth and final Test against India on a dominant 348/2 as the Indian bowlers once again struggled to make major inroads to the Australian batting line-up, on a placid batting pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
After Australia won the toss and chose to bat first, opener David Warner was quick to capitalise on India’s waywardness; he got stuck into a bowling unit devoid of any worthwhile experience, bringing up the 12th century of his Test career in the process. He was ably supported by Chris Rogers, who had declared prior to the match that this would be his last ever Test on home soil.
The duo put on a fantastic 200-run stand for the opening wicket before Warner was finally dismissed for 101 off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin. Rogers followed Warner to the pavilion soon after, agonisingly bowled just five runs short of what would’ve been his 5th Test hundred.
Two quick wickets gave India a window of opportunity to claw their way back into the match, but it wasn’t to be as Shane Watson and Steven Smith consolidated the Australian innings and ensured that no further wickets fell during the day. They will resume day two on 61* and 82*, respectively.
Here are some interesting numbers from the day’s play:
4 – David Warner’s knock of 101 was his 4th Test hundred against India, which is the 2nd most by an Australian opening batsman versus this opposition. He is behind Matthew Hayden (6).
33 – Following MS Dhoni’s Test retirement after the Boxing Day Test, Indian captain Virat Kohli was the most experienced Indian player on the field with 33 Tests to his name.
1 – This was the first time ever that all the top 4 batsmen of Australia have made 50+ scores against India in a home Test match.
2012 – The year 2012 was the last time that an opening pair put together a partnership of 200 or more against India in Tests. Warner and Ed Cowan were the players involved back then, putting together a 214-run partnership at Perth in January 2012.
172 – Number of Tests totally played by India’s playing XI for the current Test. This is the lowest since Auckland in 1976, when the combined experience was just 154 Tests.
1 – Chris Rogers has become the first ever batsman to hit five 50s in a series without a single century.
3 – Number of times India have conceded over 50 runs in the first 10 overs of the first innings in this series.
165.75 – Steven Smith’s average in the current series. He has scored a total of 663 runs from the 4 Tests and is bound to add to that tally tomorrow.
12 – Number of innings since Shane Watson has scored a Test hundred. With him currently on 61*, he’ll be desperately hoping that he can put an end to that unwanted streak tomorrow.