Published: Sep 08, 2014, 06:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 08, 2014, 07:43 PM (IST)
Faf du Plessis scored 106, 15, 126, 121 and 96 in the five matches of the Zimbabwe Triangular Series 2014. Bharath Seervi compiles some of the stats and the records du Plessis broke in the series.
Faf du Plessis was in great form during the recent Triangular Series in Zimbabwe involving the hosts, South Africa and Australia. He scored three brilliant centuries along with a 96 runs in the final against Australia. The only inning he failed in the series was against Zimbabwe in the second match where he scored 15 runs.
Du Plessis scored 106 off 98 balls, which included 11 fours and a six, against Australia while chasing a big target of 328 runs. Du Plessis along with AB de Villiers helped South Africa overhaul the target quite comfortably with 20 balls to spare. Du Plessis scored only 15 runs in the second match against Zimbabwe. After this, in the third match against Australia, he scripted a fighting innings of 126 runs off 109 balls which included eight fours and six sixes. South Africa were chasing target of 283 but were bundled for only 220 in 44 overs. Du Plessis continued his run and scored another century against Zimbabwe in the next ODI. He scored 121 runs off 140 balls that contained five fours and four sixes. South Africa, who set a target of 272 for Zimbabwe, won the match by 63 runs. In the final — South Africa being infamously termed ‘chokers’ — the Protean bowlers restricted Australia to a score of 217. Du Plessis who had scored three centuries already in the series was looking good of getting another become the first ever batsman to score four centuries in a One-Day International (ODI) series/tournament. He missed the feat by only four runs. He scored 96 runs off 99 balls which consisted of eight fours and a six.
Du Plessis was named the Player of the Tournament for his aggregate of 464 runs in five innings at an average of 92.80 containing three centuries and a 96. He hit 32 fours and 12 sixes in the series. Only five centuries were scored in the whole series and three of those were by du Plessis. Let us see some of the records du Plessis got to in the series.
Most 90+ scores in an ODI series/tournament
No batsman in the history of ODIs has scored four centuries in any series or tournament. Du Plessis missed the record by only four runs. In fact, before du Plessis, no one scored four 90+ scores in an ODI series or tournament. Du Plessis became the first batsman to get four scores of 90 or more in an ODI series/tournament. However, on 26 occasions has a batsman scored three 90+ scores in an ODI tournament/series with Sachin Tendulkar (in 1996 and 2003 World Cups) and Mark Waugh (in World Cup 1996 & Carlton Series 2001)being the only ones to do it twice.
Players scoring 120 or more in two consecutive ODI innings
Du Plessis scored 126 and 121 in two consecutive innings. He became the eighth player to do so in ODIs. First to do this was David Gower of England in 1983 when he scored 122 and 158 in consecutive innings. Before du Plessis, Gautam Gambhir was the last man to achieve this with his 138* and 126* in 2010. Sanath Jayasuriya is the only player in ODIs to score two consecutive 150+ scores in ODIs. He did so in 2006 when he smashed 152 against England at Leeds and 157 against Netherlands at Amstelveen.
| Batsman | Team | Score 1 | Score 2 | Year |
| David Gower | England | 122 v NZ, Melbourne | 158 v NZ, Brisbane | 1983 |
| Mark Waugh | Australia | 130 v Ken, Vizag | 126 v Ind, Mumbai | 1996 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 143 v Aus, Sharjah | 134 v Aus, Sharjah | 1998 |
| Mohammad Yousuf | Pakistan | 129 v SL, Sharjah | 125 v NZ, Karachi | 2002 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 152 v Eng, Leeds | 157 v Net, Amstelveen | 2006 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 160 v Ind, Rajkot | 123 v Ind, Nagpur | 2009 |
| Gautam Gambhir | India | 138* v NZ, Jaipur | 126* v NZ, Baroda | 2010 |
| Faf du Plessis | South Africa | 126 v Aus, Harare | 121 v Zim, Harare | 2014 |
Most runs scored in five matches of a series/tournament
Du Plessis’ 464 runs in the series are second only to Hamilton Masakadza’s 467 runs as the highest aggregate of runs in an ODI series/tournament where the batsmen played in five or less matches. The previous most number of runs for South Africa in an ODI series/tournament in five or less matches was Hashim Amla’s 402 in the bilateral series against West Indies in 2010.
| Runs | Batsman | I | Ave | 100s/50s | Team | Series | Year |
| 467 | Hamilton Masakadza | 5 | 116.75 | 2/1 | Zimbabwe | Bilateral with Kenya | 2009 |
| 464 | Faf du Plessis | 5 | 92.80 | 3/1 | South Africa | Triangular vs Aus & Zim | 2014 |
| 451 | Salman Butt | 5 | 90.20 | 2/2 | Pakistan | Bilateral with Bangladesh | 2008 |
| 448 | Mohammad Hafeez | 5 | 149.33 | 3/0 | Pakistan | Bilateral with Sri Lanka | 2013 |
| 435 | Sachin Tendulkar | 5 | 100.46 | 2/1 | India | Triangular with Aus & NZ | 1998 |
Most runs in an ODI series/tournament for South Africa
Du Plessis’s 464 are the second highest number of runs in any ODI series/tournament for South Africa. Highest is 485 by Jacques Kallis, which came during the ICC World Cup of 2007, but in nine innings compared to five by du Plessis. The record for most runs in any ODI series/tournament overall is Greg Chappell’s 686 runs in 14 innings of the Bensen & Hedges World Series in 1980/81.
| Runs | Batsman | Inns | Avg | 100s/50s | Highest | Series |
| 485 | Jaques Kallis | 9 | 80.83 | 1/3 | 128* | World Cup 2007 |
| 464 | Faf du Plessis | 5 | 92.8 | 3/1 | 126 | Triangular with Aus & Zim |
| 452 | Gary Kirsten | 11 | 41.09 | 1/2 | 103 | Triangular with Aus& NZ |
| 443 | Grame Smith | 10 | 49.22 | 0/5 | 91 | World Cup 2007 |
| 410 | Peter Kirsten | 8 | 68.33 | 0/4 | 90 | World Cup 1992 |
Most runs scored in an inning to get out hit-wicket in ODIs
Du Plessis was dismissed hit-wicket after scoring 126 against Australia at Harare. It was only the second time a batsman got out hit wicket after scoring century. The first time it happened was when Virat Kohli scored 107 against England at Cardiff in 2011. Only four times a batsman got out as hit wicket after reaching a half-century in ODIs.
| Runs | Batsman | For | Against | Venue | Date |
| 126 | Faf du Plessis | South Africa | Australia | Harare | September 2, 2014 |
| 107 | Virat Kohli | India | England | Cardiff | September 16, 2011 |
| 67 | Vusi Sibanda | Zimbabwe | Ireland | Kingston | March 15, 2007 |
| 60 | Gus Logie | West Indies | Australia | Melbourne | February 10, 1985 |
Du Plessis is only the fifth South African to be out hit wicket in ODIs. The other four are David Richardson (1995), Gary Kirsten (1996), Kallis (1998) and Johan Botha (2011). All were out in such fashion only once.
Catch all the coverage of the Zimbabwe Tri-Series 2014 here
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)
