Incredible stats from day four in Abu Dhabi
Statistical highlights from day four of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi
603 – The target set by Pakistan is the third highest in Tests against Australia.
Only twice before were they asked to
chase a total in excess of 600 – by England in Brisbane in 1928 and
South Africa in Perth in 2012.
Australia’s defeat against England in 1928 still remains the largest ever defeat in terms of runs.
56 – Number of balls Misbah-ul-Haq needed to complete his 100, making it the joint-fastest century in history of Test cricket.
His innings equaled the mark set by
West Indian legend Viv Richards, also scored 100 in the same number of
balls against England at Antigua in 1986.
The next fastest century was from 57 balls by Adam Gilchrist against England at the WACA in 2006.
Interestingly, the record of slowest
century also belongs to Pakistan – Mudassir Nazar (off 419 balls against
England at Lahore in 1977).
Misbah’s hundred was also second
fastest in respect to minutes taken, with the Pakistan captain reaching
three figures in 74 minutes – that’s 1.3 runs in every minute - and just
four minutes short of the world record set by Australia’s Jack Gregory
(70) in 1921 against South Africa.
21 – Number of balls in which Misbah-ul-Haq scored his fifty.
Misbah’s half-century was the quickest
in the history of red-ball cricket, breaking Jacques Kallis’ record of
24-ball 50 against Zimbabwe at Cape Town in 2005.
The previous Pakistan record was by Shahid Afridi who whacked fifty off 26 balls against India at Bangalore in 2005.
5 – Number of sixes hit by Misbah-ul-Haq – the most by any Pakistan batsman in a Test innings against Australia.
Two batsmen had previously hit four sixes – Ahmad Shahzad at Dubai in 2014 and Mohammad Yousuf at the MCG in 2004.
101 – Misbah-ul-Haq’s score in both the innings.
His dual centuries marked just the
second time in the history of Test cricket that a batsman has reached
three figures in each innings with identical scores. The only other
batsman to do so was Sri Lanka’s Duleep Mendis (105 & 105) against
India at Chennai in 1982.
9
– Number of Pakistan batsmen who have scored a century in each innings
of a Test – three of them (Younis Khan in Dubai; Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar
Ali in Abu Dhabi) achieved the feat in this series.
Misbah is also the only second Pakistan
captain after (Inzamam-ul-Haq against England at Faisalabad in 2005) to
hit twin centuries.
40 – Misbah-ul-Haq (40 years and 158 days) also became the first ever batsman aged over 40 to score twin centuries.
The previous oldest batsman to
accumulate 100 in each innings of a Test was Don Bradman (39 years and
127 days) against India at Melbourne in 1948.
2 –
Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq marked the second instance of two batsmen
from the same team hitting centuries in each innings of the same Test.
The only time it happened before was in
1974 when the Chappell brothers (Ian and Greg) each notched twin tons
against New Zealand at Wellington in 1974.
36 – Number of times Michael Clarke has been dismissed ‘bowled’ in 107 career Test matches.
The only other Australian batsmen who
has been bowled more often than him was Steve Waugh (39) in 168 matches
and Allan Border (53) in 156 matches.
12
– Number of players Australia have used at number three since Ricky
Ponting’s last innings against South Africa at Cape Town in 2011.
The twelve batsmen who have been used
by Australia in some capacity at first drop since then are: Glenn
Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Alex Doolan, James Faulkner, Ed Cowan, Michael
Clarke, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Rob Quiney, Shane Watson, Shaun
Marsh and Usman Khawaja.
3 – Number of times Pakistan have declared innings against Australia in this series.
It is first time that Pakistan have declared against the Baggy Green in three consecutive innings.
