Statistical highlights of 2nd Test at Delhi (4th day)
Mohandas Menon
** Left-arm spinner Ray Price now join former teammate and leg-spinner Paul
Strang to become the second Zimbabwe bowler to bowl 50 or more overs in an
innings for the third time in his career. Price had bowled 79 overs against
South Africa at Bulawayo in September 2001 and 68 overs against India in the
last Test match at Nagpur.
** Andy Flower registered his fifth duck of his career, but his first against
India. His other ducks came against Pakistan (on two occasions) and once each
against Sri Lanka and Australia. Incidentally his last duck before this one came
against Australia at Harare in October 1999. Since then Flower has scored 2537
runs in 27 matches and 47 innings at a batting average of 65.05 with seven
hundreds and 13 fifties.
** Andy Flower also becomes the fourth Zimbabwean batsman to register a ninety
and a duck in the same Test match. The others to do so are: Grant Flower, Murray
Goodwin and Andy Blignaut.
** Playing in his 22nd Test match, Harbhajan claimed his first “caught and
bowled” victim - Stuart Carlisle. It was his 91st wicket of his career. Just for
the record, Australian pace bowler Geoff Lawson (180 wickets) has the maximum
wickets without a “caught and bowled” dismissal, while his bowling partner Anil
Kumble has 19 such dismissal which is just one short of the Test record of 20
held by English left-armer Derek Underwood.
** The wicket of Ebrahim was Kumble’s 31st against Zimbabwe. This makes him the
highest wicket-taker for India against this team, He went past the tally of 30
wickets by Srinath. Kumble now has 34 wickets in 5 matches.
** Harbhajan’s 6-62 was the best figures by an Indian bowler against Zimbabwe
bettering the previous best of 5-60 by Javagal Srinath at this very same ground
in November 2000.
** Harbhajan’s figures were the second best by an off-spinner at this ground. S
Venkataraghavan’s 8-72 against New Zealand in March 1965 remains the best. The
other off-spinners to take six wickets in an innings at the Feroz Shah Kotla
Ground are: Australian Ashley Mallett - 6-64 in November 1969 and West Indian
Lance Gibbs - 6-76 in December 1974.
** Harbhajan now joins Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan (9-51 and 7-94) and New
Zealander Dipak Patel (6-50 and 6-113) to become the third off-spinner to
capture six or more wickets against Zimbabwe.
** Zimbabwe’s 146 was its lowest against India. Its previous lowest was the 173
at Bulawayo in June 2001.
