Cricket
Sampath Bandarupalli 2y

Ajaz Patel's record figures and left-arm spinners' delight

New Zealand in India 2021-22, ICC World Test Championship, Cricket

14 for 225 Ajaz Patel's bowling figures in the second Test, the best by any bowler in a Test match against India, eclipsing Sir Ian Botham's 13 for 106 in 1980 at Wankhede. Ajaz's match figures are also the best for a visiting player in Asia.

1 Player with better match figures for New Zealand than Ajaz. Sir Richard Hadlee took 15 wickets for 123 runs against Australia in Brisbane in 1985. No other bowler has taken more than 12 wickets in a Test match for New Zealand.

2 Bowlers other than Ajaz with 14 or more wickets in a Test match in the last 20 years: Rangana Herath against Pakistan in 2014 and Yasir Shah against New Zealand in 2018 with identical match figures of 14 for 184. Ajaz is also one of only seven left-arm bowlers to bag 14 or more wickets in a Test match.

17 Wickets for for Ajaz and Rachin Ravindra in this Test match, the joint-most for a team's left-arm spinners. England's Hedley Verity (11) and James Langridge (6) also shared 17 wickets against India in 1934 in Chennai.

0 Wickets for the New Zealand pacers, the fifth instance of them going wicketless in a Test match. However, the Mumbai Test is only the second instance of their pace bowlers going wicketless in both innings of a match. The other such occasion was against Australia in 2004 at the Adelaide Oval.

18 Sixes by India in the Mumbai Test - 7 in the first innings and 11 in the second. Only twice has a team struck more in a Test match - 27 by India against South Africa in 2019 and 22 by New Zealand against Pakistan in 2014.

540 Target for New Zealand in this Test, the third-highest set by India in this format. The biggest targets they've piled up are 617 against New Zealand in 2009 and 550 against Sri Lanka in 2017.

414 Balls bowled by William Somerville in the two-match Test series against India. He conceded 237 runs across the four innings but failed to pick a wicket. Only eight players bowled more balls than Somerville in a Test series without claiming a wicket; seven players conceded more runs. The offspinner was second on both lists for New Zealand with Matthew Hart going wicketless in the home Test series against West Indies in 1995, where he bowled 426 balls for 256 runs.

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