By IANS,
Kanpur : Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the eighth Indian to lead the team to victory on debut as Test captain after the hosts defeated South Africa by eight wickets here Sunday.
The feat ensured Dhoni a place in the club of Polly Umrigar, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble.
Other statistical highlights of the day:
# India posted their second Test win against South Africa at Kanpur, the first one being a 280-run win in the 1996-97 Test. Their triumph by eight wickets is their fifth in 22 Tests against South Africa. With this victory, India has emulated their previous biggest win in terms of wickets against South Africa. They had won by a similar margin in the 2004-05 Kolkata Test against South Africa.
# India, at home, have won four out of 10 against South Africa (lost four and drawn two) – a winning percentage of 40.
# South Africa, which had won their previous six Test series in succession since 2006-07, recorded their first drawn series after four years.
# South Africa’s 121 off 55.5 overs is their lowest innings total at Kanpur, surpassing their 177 in 1996-97.
# Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma put on 46, an Indian record for the 10th wicket at the Green Park, bettering the 45-run stand between Karsan Ghavri and Dilip Doshi against Pakistan in 1979-80.
# Sreesanth equalled his previous best innings in India. He had made an unbeaten 29 against England at Mumbai in 2006.
# Paul Harris (3/101) produced his best figures in India, eclipsing his 3 for 203 at Chennai last month.
# Neil McKenzie’s aggregate of 341 (avg. 85.25) is a new series record for South Africa against India. Before the just concluded series, Gary Kirsten had amassed 322 (avg. 53.66) in the 1996-97 series in India.
# McKenzie’s wicket was Sreesanth’s 50th in Tests.
# With 19 wickets at 26.10 runs apiece, Harbhajan Singh has established a record for most wickets in a Test series for India against South Africa. The previous record was shared by three Indian bowlers with 18 wickets each – Anil Kumble in 1992-93, Javagal Srinath in 1996-97 and Sreesanth in 2006-07.
# Harbhajan’s figures of 4 for 44 are his best at the Green Park, eclipsing his 3 for 33 against New Zealand in 1999-00.
# Harbhajan’s match figures of 7 for 96 are the best by an Indian bowler against South Africa at the Green Park, outstripping Srinath’s figures of 6 for 80 (3/42 + 3/38) in 1996-97.
# Hashim Amla’s fifth duck in Test cricket is his third against India.
# Graeme Smith became the first batsman to amass 800 runs in 2008 – 810 at an average of 73.63 in 7 Tests, including two centuries and four fifties at a strike rate of 73.63.
# Sehwag (3/12) registered his best bowling figures, eclipsing his 3 for 33 against West Indies at Gros Islet in June 2006.
# A.B. de Villiers (304) became the third South African to amass 300 runs in the series after McKenzie (341) and Amla (307).
# Rahul Dravid, with Paul Harris’ catch, took his 172nd catch in Tests, equalling New Zealander Stephen Fleming’s tally. He has thus moved into the second position behind Australia’s Mark Waugh, who holds the world record (181).
# Sehwag, with 372 runs (avg. 74.40) including a triple century, top-scored in the series besides taking six wickets (avg. 20.33). For the second time in his Test career, he has aggregated 350-plus runs and claimed six or more wickets in a series. In the four-Test series against West Indies in 2006, he made 357 (avg. 51.00) and captured nine wickets (ave.23.22).
# Harbhajan has been adjudged the man of the series for the third time. His earlier two awards were against Australia for claiming 32 wickets in 2000-01 and against West Indies for capturing 20 wickets in 2002-03.