It was also the second men's Test in 70 years to feature three innings on the first day
Sampath Bandarupalli03. January 2024 • 32 minutes ago
India have lost each of their last six wickets for the same score – 153 Gallo Images/Getty Images
23 – The number of wickets taken in Cape Town on Wednesday equals the record for most wickets taken in a single day's play in a Test match in South Africa. As many as 23 wickets fell on the second day of the Test between South Africa and Australia in 2011, also played at Newlands.
1 – Number of men's Tests with more wickets on the opening day than the 23 in Cape Town. In the Melbourne Test between Australia and England in 1902, 25 wickets fell on the first day.
153 – India's total score of losing each of their last six wickets. It is the first time that a team has lost six wickets in a Test innings with the score tied.
11 – Number of balls on which India lost their last six wickets. This is by far the fewest number of balls bowled by a team during a six-wicket collapse in a Test innings (where data is available). The previous lowest was 27 balls in four different cases.
349 – Number of balls bowled by South Africa and India in their respective first innings in Cape Town, which is the second fewest in a Test match. The first two innings of the 1902 Melbourne Test between Australia and England spanned 287 balls.
8th – Number of men's Tests where the third innings of play started on the first day, including the Cape Town Test. This Test between South Africa and India is only the second men's Test in the last 70 years to feature three innings on the first day. The Lord's Test between England and Ireland in 2019 is the other.
9.4 – The overs required for India to take the lead in the first innings are the fewest for any team in a men's Test match. The earliest ever was 11.2 overs by South Africa, which they achieved twice, including in Cape Town – against Zimbabwe in 2005 and against New Zealand in 2013.
2 – Players who were dismissed twice on the first day of their Test debut, including Tristian Stubbs, against India on Wednesday. England wicketkeeper Harry Butt marked his debut against South Africa by being sent off twice on the first day of the Gqeberha Test in 1896.
6 – Number of India batters dismissed for a duck in Cape Town, which is the highest total for a Test innings. There have been seven previous instances of six ducks in a Test innings, including once by India – against England in Manchester in 2014.
0 Runs were added by India's bottom five batters (7-11), including four ducks. Only twice have the bottom five batters failed to add a run in a Test innings – West Indies in Dhaka in 1959 and New Zealand in Auckland in 2001, both against Pakistan.
Sampath Bandarupalli is a statistician at ESPNcricinfo