The Adelaide Test, which was played under the shadow of Phillip Hughes’ tragic death, produced some high-quality cricket from both sides, the Australians in particular. It was the perfect way for the Aussies to pay tribute to their departed mate, who was felled in a domestic game a few weeks back although the spat between David Warner, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Varun Aaron could have been avoided. Here is a look at some pertinent numbers relating to the Test.
As many as three Australians scored a hundred in the first innings of the Test – David Warner (145), Michael Clarke (128) and Steven Smith (162 not out).
Two batsmen got a hundred in each innings of the Test. Warner made 145 and 102 while India’s skipper in the game, Virat Kohli made 115 and 141.
This was only the second instance of a captain making a hundred in both innings in in his first Test as captain. Earlier, Greg Chappell had achieved the feat in Brisbane back in the year 1975.
Kohli’s 256 runs in the Test however are now the most scored by a batsman in his first Test as captain. New Zealand’s Graham Dowling held the earlier record, with 244 runs against India at Christchurch in 1968.
Kohli’s feat was rare in another sense as well. He became the first batsman since West Indian Rohan Kanhai in 1961 to score two hundreds in a Test. Incidentally, Kanhai’s feat was also achieved at the Adelaide Oval.
Nathan Lyon claimed 12 wickets in the match, his best bowling effort till date by a distance. These are now also the best match analysis by an Australian spinner against India. He finished with match analysis of 12 for 268. The earlier record was in the name of Jason Krejza, who claimed 12 for 358 against India at Nagpur in 2008.
Lyon’s effort also broke a ten year-old hoodoo for spin bowlers in Australia. Since Upul Chandana picked up 10 wickets against Australia at Cairns in 2004, no other slow bowler had repeated the feat.
In the fourth innings of the Test, opener Murali Vijay became the second Indian batsman to be given out leg before for 99. Another former opener, Navjot Sidhu, was out for 99 against Sri Lanka at Bangalore in 1994.
Once again, India collapsed in the final innings. And although, they finished with a decent total of 315, as many as six batsmen were still dismissed for single figure scores – Dhawan, Rahane, Rohit Sharma and the three fast bowlers, Shami, Varun and Ishant.
No Indian bowler picked up more than two wickets in the match even as Lyon five-fors in both innings. Debutant leg-spinner Karn Sharma picked up eight wickets less than the experienced Lyon.
India’s bowlers proved to be very expensive during the course of the Test. Shami went at five an over in the first innings, and Aaron at an unacceptable rate of 5.9. In the second innings, Karn Sharma went at 5.9 and Aaron at 4.3
--By A Cricket Analyst
