At the Newlands Test
From the SABC statistician's notebook
The author (left) in an interview with Neil Manthorp (right).
Day 1
Pakistan has won just two of its sixteen Tests in South Africa, the most recent being in Gqeberha fifteen years ago. There are no veterans of that triumph in this squad.
Of their thirteen defeats in this country,
three have been by 200+ runs;
three by 7+ wickets; and
two by an innings.
They’ve lost all four of their Test Matches at Newlands.
In fact, they would have much preferred Sri Lanka’s schedule earlier in the summer: Their only two wins in this country were at St George’s Park and Kingsmead.
South Africa’s two-wicket win at Centurion was their narrowest batting last since readmission. They’ve had only one narrower in their whole history:
one wicket v. England, Johannesburg, 1905/06
Their previous narrowest since readmission:
three wickets v. Sri Lanka, Centurion, in 2002/03.
Owing to a combination of injury and SA20, the Proteas have played no fewer than 31 different players across their eleven Tests since 2024. Only Pakistan (twenty in seven) approaches that ratio.
As it stands, therefore, the World Test Championship Final is likely to be between
South Africa, the least stable team since 2024 (31 players); and
Australia, the most stable (only fifteen players).
Since South Africa’s first post-isolation visit to Lord’s (1994), no team has a better win percentage on that hallowed turf:
SA 71.43%
Aus 55.56%
Eng 47.27%
Pak 42.86%
Ind 28.57%
Ryan Rickelton opens the batting for the first time in Test cricket. He began life in the first-class game as an opener, although he hasn’t done it there since mid-November 2023—and not consistently since November 2020. His first-class average at the top of the order is 47.41.
He had played only two first-class matches on this ground before today:
90 & 102* for Gauteng v. WP, Jan 2022
13 & 112 for Gau v. WP, Nov 2023
Before his duck in the second innings of the First Test, Rickelton had the longest career for South Africa (all formats) without registering a duck (34 innings). That record now reverts to the appropriately named Billy Zulch.
Aiden Markram’s average opening the batting in the first innings of a Test Match is 52.90, compared to 29.62 in all other circumstances. Only Herschelle Gibbs has a better record for South Africa (55.02). The GOAT is Justin Langer, with 2,404 runs at a whopping 70.70.
This is the best start to a Newlands Test (for batsmen) since 2016:
Jan 2017: 0/1
Jan 2018: 0/1
Mar 2018: 6/1
Jan 2019: 9/1
Jan 2020: 8/1
Jan 2022: 31/1
Jan 2024: 5/1
Of course, had the “umpire’s call” been different this morning—Markram just about survived the first ball of the day—we’d have had another 0/1, as opposed to 61/1.
Wiaan Mulder comes to the crease on Markram’s dismissal. He finished 2024 with a Test batting average of 64.50, and a bowling average of 18.20.
That’s the biggest difference (+46.30) for any all-rounder in Test cricket in 2024.
Only three South Africans have had better years:
Kallis (2007): +60.67
Pollock (2002): +50.80
McMillan (1995): +46.63
South Africa’s no. 3 position:
2010-2017: averaged 52.06
2018-present: averaging 26.47
That first number, incidentally, is almost entirely down to Hashim Amla, who averaged 58.54 in that position, and accounted for 88 per cent of the runs by South African no. 3s, in that period.
By the 24th over of the 2024 New Year’s Test, South Africa was all out for 55. Today they’re 77 for three.
Before he took the captaincy, Bavuma was averaging 34.53. His average as captain is 55.07. Only Kane Williamson, among batsmen-leaders this decade, has done better (61.80).
That's the third consecutive fifty partnership between Rickelton and Bavuma:
57 v West Indies, Port of Spain, August
133 v Sri Lanka, Gqerbha, December
50* v Pakistan, Cape Town, today
En route to his maiden Test century, against Sri Lanka last month, Rickelton got stuck in the seventies, spending 41 balls there. Today he was in and out in twelve balls.
Rickelton goes to his century, and he may not be done yet:
His average, from his 18 first-class centuries, is 199.33, boosted by six not-outs and five scores of 150+.
Those “daddy hundreds,” however, were among his first eight. His last ten have all been babies: 133 or fewer.
Bavuma has now hit six sixes this summer. He’d hit just eight in the previous ten years.
This is now South Africa’s highest-ever fourth-wicket partnership against Pakistan, beating the 179 between De Villiers and Kallis in Abu Dhabi, 2010/11.
Coming into this summer, South Africa’s fourth wicket had yielded only one century in 45 innings. This summer it’s four in seven, averaging 118, with Bavuma the common denominator.
And now they’ve got the highest-ever fourth-wicket partnership at Cape Town, beating the 197 between Les Ames and Wally Hammond, 1937/38.
Bavuma goes to his century:
First 55 Tests: one century, twenty fifties, average 37.78.
Last eight: three centuries, four fifties, average 72.45.
This is the third time in first-class cricket, and the first in Tests, that Rickelton has batted through day one from first to last:
120 for Gauteng v KwaZulu-Natal, 2017. Went on to 191.
163 for Central Gauteng v Free State, 2019. Went on to 202*.
176 today.
Day 2
Rickelton closes in on his double-century. Although you have to go back exactly nine years, to Amla’s epic against England in 2016, for the last score of 200+ by a South African, there have been a few near misses since:
199 - Elgar v Bangladesh, 2016/17
199 - Du Plessis v Sri Lanka, 2020/21
185 - Elgar v India, 2023/24
Sixes for South Africa:
Past year: 61
Previous four: 60
Fastest double-hundreds for South Africa:
211 balls: Gibbs v. Pakistan, Cape Town, 2002/03
238 balls: Smith v. Bangladesh, Chattogram, 2007/08
251 balls: Kirsten v. Zimbabwe, Harare, 2001/02
266 balls: Rickelton today
He’s now the only active South African player with a double century in Test cricket.
He also goes to his highest score in all first-class cricket. Previous best: 202* for Central Gauteng v. Free State, 2019/20.
An unhappy distinction for Pakistan: No team this century has been on the end of more double centuries:
32 - Pakistan
29 - Bangladesh
26 - England
Each of the first five wickets of this innings have been out caught behind. It’s happened before—Brad Haddin snapped up India’s first five in December 2014—but I can’t find an instance of the first six falling that way…
Rickelton’s is now the longest Test innings for South Africa this decade:
289 balls: Rickelton today
288: Pieter Malan v England, Cape Town, 2019/20
287: Elgar v. India, Centurion, 2023/24
280: Bavuma v. West Indies, Johannesburg, 2022/23
Highest scores by an opener at Newlands:
232*: Rickelton today
228: Gibbs v Pakistan, Jan 2003
189: Jim Burke, Dec 1957
187: Jack Hobbs, Mar 1910
Highest Test scores for South Africa at Newlands:
232* - Rickelton today
228 - Gibbs v Pak, 2003
224 - Kallis v SL, 2012
Highest sixth-wicket partnerships for South Africa at Newlands:
130: Rickelton & Verreynne today
129: Boucher & Prince v. West Indies, 2007/08
South Africa closes in on 500. Only once in the last seven years has a total in this country reached those proportions:
621 by SA v. SL, Boxing Day 2020
It used to happen more often:
8 times in the seven years before that; and
13 times in the seven years before that!
Kyle Verreynne makes it three centuries in this innings.
Between Boxing Day 2019 and Boxing Day 2023, South African batsmen scored just eight in 25 Tests.
Since then it’s fourteen in twelve (by eight different batsmen—the most of any team in this period).
Rickelton’s first-class average on this ground is now 288.00.
But he goes no further. Highest individual scores at Newlands:
262: Stephen Fleming, 2005/06
259: Rickelton, today
258: Ben Stokes, 2015/16
Most sixes in an innings at Newlands:
15 - South Africa in this one
14 - England, 2015/16
12 - South Africa v. Australia, 2008/09
They fall two short of their all-time record:
17 v. Bangladesh at Chattogram in October
No team has ever scored 600 (which landmark the Proteas have just struck) and gone on to lose.
Highest losing total: 595/6d by Bangladesh v. New Zealand at Wellington, January 2017.
Kwena Maphaka comes to the crease on debut, having played just three first-class matches. Not since Paul Winslow (3) 75 years ago has South Africa fielded a player with this little red-ball experience. He’s now our
youngest T20I debutant (18y 137d);
youngest ODI debutant (18y 255d); and
youngest Test debutant (18y 270d).
The hosts are all out for 615:
Pakistan showed impressive fight from a similar situation recently, losing by only 74 runs after England bazballed 657 at Rawalpindi in 2022. That’s the smallest-ever margin of defeat after conceding 600+. (No-one has won.) Chasing 343 in the fourth innings, they were at one point 176 for 3.
The second-smallest margin was exactly 100 years ago, when England lost by just 81 after conceding a round 600 in the New Year’s Test at Sydney. (See John Ward’s latest column in this newsletter.) Chasing 372, they were 211 for 3 when Arthur Mailey began turning it square.
In both those cases, the fightback was led in the first innings by a huge opening partnership:
Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq put on 225 for Pakistan;
Hobbs and Sutcliffe 283 for England.
But Pakistan’s first wicket contributes just two today:
Since the start of 2024, their openers have averaged just 12.20.
That’s only one run more than the opposition tenth wicket (11.11) in the same period!
They’ve posted just one fifty partnership in their last 27 innings.
Marco Jansen’s Test bowling average (20.74) is the best in South African history (min. 2,000 balls.) There are only three better averages among currently active bowlers:
Axar Patel (IND): 19.34
Jasprit Bumrah (IND): 19.42
Kyle Jamieson (NZ): 19.73
His strike rate (36.01), meanwhile, is second only to George Lohmann’s (34.19) on the all-time list.
Kagiso Rabada is the only bowler in Test history with 200+ wickets and a sub-40 strike rate (39.42).
Saud Shakeel comes into this match with a Test batting average of 55.70—the highest ever for Pakistan (min. 20 innings).
How will Maphaka’s young body handle the rigors of Test cricket? On a very flat surface, this could prove an exacting test. He’s bowled only three spells of more than ten overs in all representative cricket:
11-3-43-2 - South Africa A v. Sri Lanka A, June 2023
18.5-3-87-2 - Gauteng v. Eastern Province, November 2023
12-1-54-3 - Gauteng v. Eastern Province, November 2024
His average overs per innings is just 6.24.
Among players with at least five Tests in 2024, Wiaan Mulder’s bowling average (18.20) was bettered only by
Hazlewood (13.60)
Bumrah (14.92).
And among seamers, only
Hazlewood (2.87)
Anderson (2.87)
had better economy rates than his 2.93.
Mohammad Rizwan joins Babar Azam. Across all formats, there have been only two more productive partnerships for Pakistan:
7095 runs - Inzamam-ul-Haq & Mohammad Yousuf
6087 runs - Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan
5401 runs - “RizBar”
Day 3
Before his fifty at Centurion, Babar had gone two years and nineteen innings without a Test half-century. He now has back-to-back fifties for the first time since Boxing Day 2022.
Mir Hamza becomes Keshav Maharaj’s 150th Test wicket outside of Asia.
Of the twelve spinners who have taken 100+ wickets outside of Asia this century (2000-present), only
Muralitharan (25.08); and
Warne (25.63)
have better averages than Maharaj’s 28.77.
Lots of talk about whether Bavuma will enforce the follow-on. It’s not a popular move these days. Prevalence by decade:
1940s: 29% of Tests
1950s: 21%
1960s: 18%
1970s: 11%
1980s: 12%
1990s: 9%
2000s: 13%
2010s: 10%
2020s: 7.5% (least ever)
The least ever, that is, unless you include the 1870s (zero out of three).
The Proteas, for their part, have yet to enforce the follow-on at home this decade.
Last time: December 2017, v. Zimbabwe at Gqeberha (the day-night Test).
South Africa’s biggest first-innings leads:
465 runs v. Australia at Durban, 1969/70
426 v. Bangladesh at Bloemfontein, 2017/18
421 today
Pakistan’s biggest first-innings deficits:
496 v. Sri Lanka, Lahore, Mar 2009
473 v. West Indies, Bridgetown, Jan 1958
421 today
408 v. Australia, Karachi, Mar 2022
They managed to fight back and draw each of the three previous matches on that list.
Biggest first-innings deficit by a team that went on to win:
274: India v. Australia, Eden Gardens, Mar 2001
Most career runs in the follow-on:
Andy Flower: 635 runs @ 158.75
VVS Laxman: 586 @ 146.50
Alec Stewart: 550 @ 68.75
Gary Kirsten: 495 @ 123.75
At last some joy for the visitors’ opening pair. This is now Pakistan’s highest-ever first-wicket stand in South Africa.
Previous best: 101 between Aamer Sohail & Saeed Anwar, Durban, Feb 1998
And now it’s their highest first-wicket partnership anywhere against South Africa, beating the 137 between Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar at Faisalabad in October 2003.
And now it’s the highest ever for the first wicket in a follow-on:
Previous best: 204 between Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith at Lord’s, 2008.
Previous best for Pakistan: 152 between Hanif Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmed, Bridgetown, 1958.
Just four Pakistanis have scored centuries in follow-on innings:
337 - Hanif Mohammad v. WI, Bridgetown, 1958
237 - Saleem Malik v. Aus, Rawalpindi, 1994
112 - Mohammad Yousuf v. India, Multan, 2004
100* - Mushtaq Mohammad v. England, Nottingham, 1962
Only Bangladesh (3), Ireland (1) and Afghanistan (0) have fewer.
But now Shan Mahsood becomes the fifth. His century is
the first century by a Pakistani captain in South Africa; and
only the second-ever by a Pakistani captain against South Africa.
Previous: 100 by Misbah-ul-Haq in Abu Dhabi, 2013
Khurram Shahzad, meanwhile, is only a couple of minutes from completing the nightwatchman’s primary duty.
Incidentally, it was a Pakistani who scored the first-ever century as nightwatchman:
101 - Nasim-ul-Ghani v. England, Lord’s, 1962
Shehzad’s own highest first-class score (59) also came as nightwatchman, following on for Baluchistan against Northern in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 2022. (Alas, in vain: They lost by ten wickets.)
Day 4
The Proteas in these situations have tended to press home the advantage. This is
the first time (out of six) since February 2013 that a team following on against them has scored 200+; and
also the first time in that period that they haven’t secured an innings victory.
25 no-balls by South Africa in this Test Match. They’re still a fair distance off their record:
37 v. England at Gqeberha in 2004, when fresh-faced debutant Dale Steyn accounted for sixteen.
The individual record belongs to Chaminda Vaas, who managed thirty (!) v. Pakistan at Lahore in 2002.
Incidentally, the only bowler understood to have gone through his entire first-class career without a no-ball (or a wide) was Alfred Shaw, who bowled the very first Test delivery, way back in 1877. He’d be disappointed to see how little his example has been heeded.
Rabada goes to his
400th wicket in first-class cricket; and
his fiftieth at Newlands.
Only Steyn (74), Ntini (53), Philander (53) and Pollock (51) have more here.
Highest scores for Pakistan in South Africa:
137* - Shan Masood in this innings
136 - Azhar Mahmood in Johannesburg, 1998
135 - Taufeeq Umar in Cape Town, 2003
132 - Azhar Mahmood in Durban, 1998
Highest Pakistani scores against South Africa:
146: Khurram Manzoor in Abu Dhabi, 2013
145: Shan Masood in this innings
136: Azhar Mahmood in Johannesburg, 1998
Strange, given the notorious flatness of wickets in their homeland, that no Pakistani has posted a daddy hundred against South Africa.
Rizwan has never scored a Test century outside Pakistan. (He has three at home.)
Of course, we’re only a couple of years removed from Misbah and Asad Shafiq, who (for very different reasons) never managed it in Pakistan (out of ten and twelve hundreds respectively).
Highest follow-on totals by a visiting team in South Africa:
373/5* - today
372/7d - Australia in Johannesburg, Oct 1902
Pakistan’s run rate has fallen below 4.00 in the last ten overs—for the first time since the very first of this innings. Only once in a follow-on innings have they gone about their business with more urgency than here:
3.99 runs per over v. England at Lord’s, 2010
The highest follow-on totals anywhere against South Africa:
551 - England in Nottingham, 1947
392/5* - Pakistan in this innings
391 - Zimbabwe in Harare, 2001
If Pakistan were to save this Test, they’d break a run of nineteen consecutive defeats in South Africa (8) and Australia (11) combined, going back to 2007.
That’s now Maharaj’s best match return in Tests on this ground. He’d never previously taken four wickets at Newlands.
Highest third-innings totals by a visiting team in South Africa:
570/7d - England in Durban, Dec 2004
462/7* - Pakistan today
459 - India in Centurion, Dec 2010
David Bedingham equals the South African record for most catches in a Test. Bert Vogler, Bruce Mitchell, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith all managed six.
Had he not dropped Ghulam earlier in the day, he’d have had the record to himself, and been only one off the all-time top spot:
8 - Ajinkya Rahane v. Sri Lanka at Galle, Aug 2015
Pakistan is all out for 478, leaving South Africa just 58 to win:
Only two sub-100 targets have been successfully defended in Test cricket:
85 - Australia won by seven runs v. England, 1882 (the “Ashes” match)
99 - West Indies won by 35 runs v. Zimbabwe, 2000
Last year’s Newlands Test lasted just 642 balls—the shortest ever to yield a positive result.
This one is now exactly three times as long (1,926 balls).
The biggest difference is 250x:
West Indies v. England at North Sound, in February 2009, brought just ten balls and five days of rain.
Three summers later, with the visit of New Zealand, Test cricket returned, and yielded a harvest of 2,505 deliveries…
Most sixes in a Cape Town Test:
20: THIS ONE!
18: SA & Aus, 2009
17: SA & Eng, 2016
17: SA & WI, 2004
Highest win percentages as captain:
Bavuma - 88.88%
Warwick Armstrong - 80%
Steve Waugh - 71.93%
Don Bradman - 62.50%
(Min. 9 Tests.) In fairness, Bavuma has also won 88.89% of his tosses—also the most ever.
I understand the objection it’s still early days, but in truth, they’re not that early: The average tenure of a Test captain is 14.43 matches. Even if Bavuma lost his next five matches, his eight wins out of fourteen would give him a percentage of 57.14—still in the all-time top ten...
Proteas’ best winning streaks:
9 - Mar 2002 to May 2003 (under Pollock and Smith)
7 - Aug 2024 to present (under Bavuma and Markram)
6 - Nov 2012 to Feb 2013 (under Smith)
Rodney Ulyate serves on the ACS general committee, and as cricket statistician for the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
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