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Pujara in record books; betters Dravid, Ganguly
India took the honours on Day 1 in the second and final Test against South Africa in Durban on Thursday, thanks to some excellent batting by Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, who were involved in an unbroken 140-runs partnership for the second wicket, before bad light forced play to be called off early, with India sitting pretty on 181 for 1 in 61 overs after electing to bat first.
Check out the statistical highlights from the day.
# Cheteshwar Pujara set an Indian record of aggregating 1500 Test runs in least number of innings. He needed only 27 innings for his tally of 1546 runs, at an average of 70.27. Before him, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were the quickest to reach to the 1500-mark in 32 Test innings.
# Pujara enjoys a healthy average of 70-plus in Tests; his average against all the five opponents -- New Zealand, England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa -- he has played against is 50-plus, including a hundred against each.
# He averages 80-plus in successive calendar years - 81.75 in 2012 and 87.22 in 2013.
# Shikhar Dhawan (29 off 49 balls) posted his highest score against South Africa.
# Dhawan's aforesaid knock is his highest on foreign soil. He averages 50.00 after six innings in Tests - 300 runs, including a hundred.
Vijay posted his highest score on foreign soil
Murali Vijay (91 not out) posted his highest score against South Africa in Tests. The said knock is his highest on foreign soil, eclipsing the 58 versus Sri Lanka at Colombo (SSC) in 2008.
# His first fifty versus South Africa is his fourth in Tests. His unbeaten 91 is the highest by an Indian opener against South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban.
# Vijay and Pujara were associated in an unbroken stand of 140 for the second wicket, India's highest stand for any wicket versus South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban.
Steyn averages 214.00 in the present series
The aforesaid stand is India's second century partnership for the second wicket versus South Africa, in South Africa, after the 171 between Deep Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid at Port Elizabeth in 2001-02.
# Dravid was the last Indian opener to post two hundreds in Tests outside the sub-continent - 117 at Trent Bridge and 146 not out at The Oval - versus England.
# Dale Steyn averages 214.00 in the present series, having taken just one wicket in 72 overs, his worst performance in terms of averages.