Ajaz also bowled a higher percentage of overs than any spinner in the first innings since 1952
S Rajesh04-Dec-20214:11
Daniel Vettori: ‘Rare’ Ajaz Patel 10-wicket haul is greatest individual feat in NZ Test cricket
3 – Instances of a bowler taking all ten wickets in an innings. Ajaz Patel joins Jim Laker (10 for 53 against Australia in 1956) and Anil Kumble (10 for 74 against Pakistan in 1999) in this exclusive club. The two previous instances came in home Tests, and in the second half of the game: Laker’s ten came in the third innings, and Kumble’s in the fourth. Ajaz also overtook Richard Hadlee as the bowler with the best figures for New Zealand; Hadlee had taken 9 for 52 against Australia in 1985.ESPNcricinfo Ltd43.55 – Percentage of deliveries bowled by Ajaz in India’s first innings: he sent down 47.5 out of 109.5 overs. Since 2000, there have been only three instances of a bowler bowling a higher percentage of overs in an innings which lasted at least 100 overs. Two of those were by India spinners: R Ashwin bowled 52.5 overs out of 119.5 (44.09%) against Australia in Adelaide in 2018, while Ravindra Jadeja bowled 44 out of 100, also against Australia, in Ranchi in 2017. Saqlain Mushtaq bowled 47 out of 105.1 (44.69%) in England in 2001.Watch live cricket on ESPN+ in the US
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All three efforts were in the team’s second innings, though. If we filter this to the first two innings of a Test (with a 100-over cut-off), then the last time a bowler a higher percentage was way back in 1977, when Australian seamer Mick Malone bowled 47 out of 101.2 overs against England.To get the last instance of a spinner bowling a higher percentage in the first two innings of a Test, you would have to go back all the way to 1952, and India’s second Test victory, when Vinoo Mankad bowled 47 out of 104.3 overs in Pakistan’s first innings.
1 – Not only is this the first instance of a left-arm spinner taking ten in an innings in Tests, it’s also the first instance of left-arm spinners collectively taking ten in an innings. There have been a few instances of them taking nine, the last of which happened earlier this week, when Veerasammy Permaul and Jomel Warrican took nine in Sri Lanka’s first innings.2 – New Zealand bowlers who have taken ten in an innings in a first-class match. The only other bowler to perform this feat is Albert Moss, a fast bowler from Canterbury who took all ten against Wellington in 1889.
