Stats: South Africa vs England 4th Test day 1 - Stephen Cook and Hashim Amla set records
Centuries from debutant Stephen Cook and Hashim Amla helped South Africa end day one of the fourth Test against England at Centurion on 329/5. After the winning toss and batting first, the Proteas made hay on a good batting wicket.
The 200-run second-wicket partnership between Amla and Cook set records aplenty for both players. Although a mini collapse following the fall of Amla, which included a duck from AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma ensured the Proteas ended the day in a strong position.
Here are some interesting numbers from day one:
1 – Only one South African batsmen had scored five Test hundreds at Centurion before Hashim Amla. Jacques Kallis has scored five centuries in Centurion, Amla joined him and also went past 1000 runs at the venue. His 1047 runs at an average of 87.25 is the 11th best average for a batsman at a venue (min 1000 runs).
4 – Stephen Cook was the fourth-oldest debutant to score a Test hundred. Only three players, Adam Voges (35 years and 242 days), Dave Houghton (35 years and 117 days) and Billy Griffith (33 years and 240 days) have managed that feat quicker than Cook, who is 33 years and 54 days.
5 – Only five batsmen took fewer innings than Hashim Amla to get to their 25 Test hundreds. Don Bradman was the fastest (took just 68 innings) while Sachin Tendulkar (130) is second. The others who were faster were Sunil Gavaskar (138), Matthew Hayden (139) and Garry Sobers (147).
6 – Since South Africa's readmission to Tests, only six Proteas players older than Cook have made their Test debut. In fact, since his father, Jimmy Cook made his debut in 1992-93 when he was 39 years and 105 days old, he is the oldest opener and the second oldest player to make his debut for South Africa.
7.66 – In this series, AB de Villiers’ batting average against Stuart Broad is 7.66. He has been dismissed for a duck twice by Broad.
8 – This was the eighth time there was two or more hundreds from South Africa’s top three in Tests. The last time was also against England, at the Oval in 2012.
9 – The second-wicket partnership was the ninth instance of a partnership of 200 or more was added by a South African pair for any wicket in Centurion.
10 – The number of times Stuart Broad has dismissed AB de Villiers in Tests. Broad is the bowler who has dismissed him the most and the South African skipper only averages 16.3 against Broad.
16 – This was the first time in 16 innings that the Proteas have posted 150+ before losing their second wicket. The last time was against West Indies in 2014, when they lost their second wicket at 226.
17 – The number of players used by South Africa in this series – their most since the 2004/05 Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, when they used 18 players.
202 – The partnership between Cook and Amla was the second highest for the second wicket at this ground and the first century stand for South Africa since 1997. The 205-run partnership between Alex Doolan and David Warner was the highest.
2012 – This was the first time since 2012 that South Africa posted more than the 237 they managed in this match, before losing their second wicket. In 2012 against England at the Oval, the score was 250 at the fall of their second wicket.