England beat New Zealand by 267 runs in Mount Maunganui, while India got the better of Australia by six wickets in Delhi to go 2-0 up in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India went down to England by 11 runs in the T20 World Cup, but Renuka Singh created history. Here’s a record round-up for February 13 to 19.
Ben Stokes becomes the leading six-hitter in Test cricket
England captain Ben Stokes created history during the first Test against New Zealand in Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, which was played from February 16 to 19. He went past Kiwi legend and current England Test coach Brendon McCullum to become the leading six-hitter in Test cricket. Stokes was tied on 107 sixes with McCullum, heading into the Test match. He slammed two sixes in England’s second innings during his knock of 31 to move to the top of the list. Stokes now has 109 sixes from 164 innings. Brendon McCullum had 107 from 176.
Ben Stokes breaks massive Michael Vaughan record
Following England’s 267-run win in Mount Maunganui, Stokes broke Michael Vaughan’s record for the fastest English captain to register 10 Test wins. Vaughan needed 16 Tests to reach ten wins. Stokes has also equaled the all-time record in this regard. Lindsay Hassett, who captained Australia between 1949 and 1953, also registered ten Test wins in 12 games.
Anderson-Broad go past Warne-McGrath
During the first Test against New Zealand, England’s legendary fast-bowling duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad became Test cricket’s most prolific bowling pair. Before the Mount Maunganui Test started, the record was held by Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. The Aussie duo played 104 Tests together and claimed 1001 wickets as a bowling pair.
When Broad dismissed Kiwi batter Devon Conway on Day 3 of England’s day-night Test against New Zealand, he and Anderson moved on to 1,002 wickets combined from the 133 Test matches they played together. Anderson and Broad starred with four wickets each in the second innings as England bowled out the Kiwis for 126 in 45.3 overs. The England duo now have 1009 wickets as a Test pair from 133 matches.
Tom Blundell is the first player to achieve this feat in Day-Night cricket
During the Mount Maunganui Test, Tom Blundell became the first keeper-batter to smash a hundred in a Day-Night Test (Pink-ball Test). Blundell struck a superb 138 off 181 balls in New Zealand’s first innings, a knock that featured 19 fours and a six. Thanks to his efforts, the Kiwis posted 306 in response to England’s first-innings total of 325/9 declared.
Impressive records for Jadeja, Ashwin and Lyon in Delhi
After thumping Australia in Nagpur, India dominated the second Test against the Aussies in Delhi as well. For the second game in a row, the hosts got the better of the visitors within three days. Fittingly, Cheteshwar Pujara hit the winning runs in his 100th Test. India bowled out Australia for 263 in the first innings and 113 in the second. India responded with 262 and 118 for 4.
There were plenty of records for spinners in the Test dominated by slow bowlers. In the first innings, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja became the second fastest player to claim the double of 250 wickets and 2,500 runs in Test cricket. Jadeja achieved the landmark when he dismissed Australian opener Usman Khawaja for 81.
Jadeja needed only 62 Tests to reach the rare landmark. The illustrious list is led by England legend Sir Ian Botham, who achieved the feat in 55 Tests matches. Among Indians, the previous record was held by Kapil Dev, who needed 65 Tests to reach 250 wickets and 2,500 runs. Pakistan legend Imran Khan got to the rare double in 64 Test matches.
In the second innings, Jadeja claimed 7/42 to register his best innings figures in a Test innings. His previous best was 7/48 against England in Chennai in December 2016. The left-arm spinner had five bowled dismissals in the second innings as he cleaned up Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, and Matthew Kuhnemann.
Jadeja thus became the first spinner in 21 years to dismiss five batters bowled in a Test innings. A slow bowler last did this when Anil Kumble claimed 6/53 against South Africa in the Johannesburg Test. Kumble bowled Andrew Hudson, David Richardson, Peter Kirsten, Jonty Rhodes, and the late Hansie Cronje in the second innings of the match.
On Day 1 of the Delhi Test, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed three wickets for 57 runs. With this, he became the second Indian bowler to claim 100 wickets in Test matches against Australia. Ashwin first trapped Labuschagne lbw for 18 and then had Smith caught behind in the same over for a duck. Later in the innings, Ashwin caught Alex Carey for a duck at slip by Virat Kohli. With this dismissal, he completed 100 wickets against Australia in Test matches. Besides Ashwin, Kumble is the only Indian to claim over 100 wickets against Australia. Of his 619 Test scalps, 111 came against the Aussies.
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon ran through the Indian batting with 5/67 in 29 overs in the first innings of the Delhi Test. Lyon became the first Australian player to take 100 wickets in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the third bowler overall after Kumble and Ashwin. With his performance, Lyon (8) also broke Muttiah Muralitharan’s (7) record for most five-wicket hauls against India.
Kohli is the fastest to 25,000 international runs
Virat Kohli broke a massive record at his home ground on Day 3 of the Delhi Test. During his knock of 20, he became the fastest batter to reach 25000 runs in international cricket. Kohli reached the feat in 549 innings breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record (577 innings). Ricky Ponting (588), Jacques Kallis (594), Kumar Sangakkara (608), and Mahela Jayawardene (701) are next on the list.
Renuka Singh registers best bowling figures by an Indian in Women T20 World Cup
India’s pacer delivered a brilliant spell of 5/15 in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 match against England. Her figures are now the best ever by an Indian in the ICC event and the fourth best ever. The previous best figures by an Indian bowler in the tournament were 4/12 by Diana David against Sri Lanka in the 2010 T20 World Cup.