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India v South Africa, 2nd Test, Ahmedabad, 2nd day
A new high for de Villiers
S Rajesh
April 4, 2008
After South Africa's bowlers took the honours on the opening day, their batsmen ruthlessly rammed home the advantage on the second, with AB de Villiers becoming the first South African batsman to score a Test double-century against India. Read on for more stats highlights.
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AB de Villiers' highest score lifted the South African lead to record proportions on the second day of the Ahmedabad Test
© AFP
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de Villiers' unbeaten 217 is the 21st Test double-hundred by a South African, but the first against India. The previous highest by a South African against India was Herschelle Gibbs' 196 in Port Elizabeth in 2001. (Click here for the highest scores by South Africans in Tests.) It is also de Villiers' highest Test score, going past his 178 against West Indies in Barbados in 2005.
Before this series began, de Villiers had only scored 102 runs in six innings against India, averaging 17. Thanks to the double-hundred, his average against India has now gone up to a healthy 46.75.
The highlight of the day was the 256-run fifth-wicket stand between de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, which is the highest for South Africa against India, going past the previous best of 236 between Andrew Hudson and Gary Kirsten in Kolkata in 1996. This was only the third double-century partnership for South Africa against India; Kirsten, the current India coach, had been involved in both the previous stands.
The stand fell just 11 runs short of the South African record for the fifth wicket, when Kallis and Ashwell Prince had put together 267 against West Indies in Antigua in 2005. It's also only the second 200-plus stand in Ahmedabad, and the first by an overseas pair.
Kallis' 132 is his 30th Test century, which takes him past Don Bradman's and puts him in sixth place in the all-time list. It was his second century versus India, against whom he averages 62 from ten Tests.
de Villiers knock is also only the third double-century in Ahmedabad, and the first by an overseas batsman. He needs just six more to go past Rahul Dravid's 222, which is currently the highest score at the ground.
South Africa ended the day with a first-innings lead of 418, which is their third-highest in Tests. Their highest is 509, against England at Lord's in 2003 - a match they eventually won by an innings and 92 runs - while against Australia in Durban in 1970 they finished with a 465-run advantage. If the South Africans add 73 more runs, it'll be the biggest first-innings lead conceded by India - the record is currently 490, in a Test against West Indies in Kolkata in 1959. This lead, though, is easily the highest in India-South Africa Tests.
S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
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