Stats: South Africa v England, First Test - Joe Root becomes England's highest international run-getter for a calendar year
After Stuart Broad's first-innings bowling exploits tormented South Africa, it was the turn of Steven Finn to trouble the hosts’ batting lineup as his four wickets scripted a famous win for England. Joe Root's run-filled year continued as he scored a fifty in the second innings to help England set a mammoth target for the hosts.
Here are the interesting stats from England's 241-run victory over South Africa:
1385 – Runs scored by Joe Root in Tests in this calendar year. This is the second highest for the 2015 calendar year, with Australian captain Steven Smith ending the year on 1481 runs. This is also the second highest Test runs scored by an England batsman in a year after Michael Vaughan's 1481 runs in 2002.
2228 – International runs scored by Joe Root in 2015. This is the highest number of international runs scored by an England batsman ever.
13 – Number of fifty-plus scores in Tests scored by Joe Root in 2015. This is the joint-highest in Tests for a calendar year, equalling Virender Sehwag's record in 2010.
241 – The number of runs by which South Africa lost the first Test against England. This is the third highest Test loss (in terms of runs) for South Africa at home since being readmitted to cricket.
0 – Number of hundred-plus stands in Tests for South Africa this year. South Africa have played eight Tests this year. The last time this happened was in 1963 when they had played only one Test.
2010 – The last time before the Durban Test that England had won an overseas Test opener. In March 2010, England had beaten Bangladesh.
23.90 – Hashim Amla's Test average in 2015. Amla's yearly average has not gone below 45 since 2010.
1965 – The last time a South African off-spinner picked up a five-wicket haul in Tests at home, before Dane Piedt's 5/153 in the first Test against England. Harry Bromfield had taken 5/88 against England in 1965.
120 – Runs scored by Jonny Bairstow in the first Test in Durban. This is the second highest runs scored by an England wicketkeeper in a single Test match in South Africa. The highest runs scored by an England wicketkeeper in South Africa is 134 runs, which was scored by Henry Wood in 1892.
103.94 – Jonny Bairstow's strike rate in his innings of 79 in the second innings of the first Test match. This is the second highest for an England batsman who has scored fifty-plus in South Africa. Graeme Swann's 85 runs against South Africa in 2009 came at a strike rate of 104.93.
3123 – Number of balls faced by Alastair Cook in Tests in 2015. This is the third highest ever, after Rahul Dravid's 3237 in 2002 and Dennis Amiss’ 3126 in 1974.
18.76 – The strike rate of Faf du Plessis in the fourth innings of Tests this year. This is the lowest for any Test batsman who has faced at least 300 deliveries in the fourth innings of a Test this year. 348 of the 390 balls du Plessis faced in the fourth innings resulted in dot balls.
4 – Number of times that Dane Piedt has picked up four or more wickets in a Test innings. Piedt has only played three Tests so far. The 18 wickets Piedt picked up in the three Tests is also the joint-highest for any South African spinner in his first three Tests. Claude Henderson also picked up 18 wickets in his first three Tests.
0 – Number of fifty-plus opening stands for South Africa in the last eight Test innings, before the fourth innings of the first Test. They had only managed 94 runs at a dismal average of 11.75 before the 53-run stand in the fourth innings of the Durban Test.
4 – The number of times South Africa have lost their first six wickets for less than 150 runs in the last five Tests.
12.44 – The batting average of Faf du Plessis since he last scored a Test fifty. In the last nine innings, he has been out in single digits four times.
1947 – The last time that South Africa was set a target of 400 or more in Tests by England. In 1947, England had set a target of 400-plus at the Oval, and the match ended in a draw.
50 – Number of wickets Morne Morkel has against England in Tests. Morkel becomes the 13th South African bowler to reach the 50-wicket mark against England.
153 – The number of runs conceded by Dane Piedt during his five-wicket haul. This is the third-highest number of runs conceded by a South African bowler with a five-wicket haul at home. Athol Rowan had conceded 167 runs during his five-wicket haul against England in 1948-49.