Hardus Viljoen and other bowlers with wickets off their first ball in Test cricket

South Africa‘s debutant bowler Hardus Viljoen on Friday created history when he became the 20th bowler in the history of Test cricket, and the third bowler from his country to take a wicket off his first ball of the career. Viljoen claimed the crucial wicket of the English captain Alastair Cook in the first session of the second day’s play in the third Test. Viljoen’s first ball in Test cricket — off which he got the wicket — was not a special one as it was peppered down the leg, and Cook paid the price of nudging it and getting an edge. A special mention must be made of the South African wicketkeeper Dane Vilas who took a splendid catch behind the wickets. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 3rd Test at Johannesburg, Day 2

Cook’s dismissal reduced England to 27 for 2 at lunch as they were trailing by 286 runs in the first innings. Earlier in the first session, South Africa were bowled out for 313 runs in their first innings. This was the very first instance in Test cricket when all of their 11 batsmen reached double figures but none of them recorded a half-century.

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The very first time when this was seen in Test cricket was way back in 1882-83, when Australia’s Tom Horan claimed the wicket of England’s Walter Read, at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney. Arthur Conningham was the second and the last Australian do repeat the achivement, when he claimed England’s Archie MacLaren at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1894-95. The Australian to achieve the feat was Nathan Lyon, when he claimed Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara at Galle in 2011.

As many as seven English bowlers have taken wickets on their first deliveries on Test debuts. These seven bowlers are Bill Bradley, Ted Arnold, Jack Crawford, George Macaulay, Maurice Tate, Dick Howorth and Richard Illingworth.

The only Indian to have taken a wicket on his first ball in Test cricket was Nilesh Kulkarni, when he dismissed Sri Lanka’s marvan Atapattu at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in 1997. The list contains two from New Zealand, one from Pakistan, three from South Africa, one from Sri Lanka as well as one from West Indies.