- Shaun Pollock, during the Indian first innings, became the 11th bowler (and only the fifth paceman) to bowl 1,000 or more maiden overs in Test cricket. Apart from Pollock, only, Kapil Dev, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Glenn McGrath have done the same in Tests. Incidentally, Pollock has the highest percentage of maiden overs among his tribe, averaging 30.58. Behind him is McGrath with 30.04.
- India, for the first time, posted 400-plus scores in two successive innings against South Africa. In the first Test at Kanpur, India had made 466 in their only innings.
- South Africa, for the first time, conceded a lead of 100 or more runs in the first innings against India.
- Graeme Smith (71) became the fastest South African to complete 2,500 runs in Test cricket. Smith needed 48 innings to perform this feat, which is two less than A D Nourse's (the previous record holder) tally. However, Nourse still remains the fastest for South Africa in terms of Tests as he reached this landmark in his 27th Test. Smith is placed second with 28 Tests.
- Anil Kumble went one up on all Test bowlers in world cricket this year when he dismissed Boeta Dippenaar. It was his 62nd scalp of 2004, bettering England's Steve Harmison's tally of 61 in 11 Tests and Australia's Shane Warne's 61 in 10 Tests. Kumble is in the midst of his 10th Test.
- A look at Kumble's performance in 2004 -- He started the year by picking up 12 wickets in the Sydney Test against Australia. He then prised out 15 Pakistani batsmen during India's maiden series win in Pakistan, got a career best 27 scalps in four Tests against Australians at home, and bowled with great heart on Kanpur's lifeless track removing six South African batsmen. And his two wickets at the Eden Gardens have guided him to the very top of the ladder.
- Dippenaar's wicket was also Kumble's 432nd in Test cricket, which takes him ahead of New Zealander Richard Hadlee's tally of 431 (in 86 Tests) and puts him into the sixth place in the all-time list of most successful bowlers. The list is headed by Shane Warne (552) and followed by Muttiah Muralitharan (532), Courtney Walsh (519), Glenn McGrath (463) and Kapil Dev (434).
- Jacques Kallis followed his first innings 121 with an unbeaten 52 in the second innings. He thus became the second South African and only the 16th batsman to score a century and a fifty in the same Test against India in India. The details:
Player | Inns1 | Inns2 | Total | For | Test | Venue | Series |
CF Walters | 59 | 102 | 161 | Eng | 3rd | Chennai | 1933-34 |
CL Walcott | 54 | 108 | 162 | WI | 3rd | Kolkata | 1948-49 |
EdeC Weekes | 162 | 101 | 263 | WI | 3rd | Kolkata | 1948-49 |
KF Barrington | 151* | 52* | 203 | Eng | 1st | Bombay (WS) | 1961-62 |
CG Greenidge | 93 | 107 | 200 | WI | 1st | Bangalore | 1974-75 |
AR Border | 162 | 50 | 212 | Aus | 1st | Chennai | 1979-80 |
LRD Mendis | 105 | 105 | 210 | SL | 1st | Chennai | 1982-83 |
CG Greenidge | 141 | 69 | 210 | WI | 3rd | Kolkata | 1987-88 |
A Flower | 115 | 62* | 177 | Zim | 1st | Delhi | 1992-93 |
JC Adams | 174* | 78* | 252 | WI | 3rd | Mohali | 1994-95 |
G Kirsten | 102 | 133 | 235 | SAf | 2nd | Kolkata | 1996-97 |
A Flower | 183* | 70 | 253 | Zim | 1st | Delhi | 2000-01 |
A Flower | 55 | 232* | 287 | Zim | 2nd | Nagpur | 2000-01 |
NJ Astle | 103 | 51* | 154 | NZ | 1st | Ahmedabad | 2003-04 |
DR Martyn | 114 | 97 | 211 | Aus | 3rd | Nagpur | 2004-05 |
JH Kallis | 121 | 52* | 173 | SA | 2nd | Kolkata | 2004-05 |
- Harbhajan Singh (4-58) achieved his best figures against South Africa. His previous best against South Africa was 2 for 39 in the second innings of Kanpur Test last week.
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