AUS vs IND, 1st Test: Lowest Test score for India, Hazlewood’s milestone, and other important numbers

Dec 19, 2020

AUS vs IND, 1st Test: Lowest Test score for India, Hazlewood’s milestone, and other important numbers Image

19th December 2020 is a date Indian cricket fans won’t be able to forget for a long time. Australian pacers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins decimated the Indian batting lineup, restricting the guests for 36, their lowest total ever. A collapse which took place in just about an hour.

Australia chased down the target of 90 rather easily, taking a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series. And while the first Test match may have ended in two days and a half, a lot of numbers came into the picture during the same time.

  • India were restricted for a total of 36 runs, which is now their lowest total ever in Test cricket. Their previous lowest was 42 against England at Lord’s in 1974. This is also the seventh-lowest total in Test Cricket’s history. 
  • It was also the lowest score by any team in Test cricket in 65 years. The previous one was New Zealand’s 26 against England in 1955. Which is also the lowest total in Test cricket history.
  • This is the first time in 26 Tests India that India have lost the match when Virat Kohli has won the toss.
  • 2020 is the only other calendar year except 2008 in which Virat Kohli hasn’t been able to score a century since he made his debut.
  • This was only the second time in Test cricket’s history that all 11 batsmen of a team had failed to reach double figures. The previous instance was when England dismissed South Africa for 30 back in 1924. 
  • This was only the second time in the 15 Day-Night Test matches that a team trailing at the end of the first innings went on to win. Before this, Sri Lanka beat West Indies in Bridgetown in 2018 after conceding the lead in the first innings.
  • Adelaide Test is the 35th instance of India losing the opening Test match of a series. They have never been able to win the series after losing the first game, losing 31 and 3 ending in a stalemate.
  • Josh Hazlewood completed his 200 Test wickets. He became only the 18th Australian to do so and is now level with Jeff Thomson (201) as the 17th all-time highest wicket-taker for Australia. His spell of 5-3-8-5 was the most economical one by an Australian in Tests in the last 73 years.
  • Mayank Agarwal crossed the 1000 run mark in Tests. He did so in 19 innings and became the third-fastest Indian to do so, only behind Vinod Kambli (14) and Cheteshwar Pujara (18).