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Warne and McGrath hit 800
Wisden CricInfo staff - January 2, 2002
South Africa followed on for only the third time in 91 Tests since their return to the international arena in 1991-92. The other occasions were against England at Durban in 1999-2000, when Andy Caddick demolished them in the first innings with 7 for 46 before Gary Kirsten saved the match with 275; and against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2000-01, when Muttiah Muralitharan defeated South Africa singlehandedly with match figures of 13 for 171.
Glenn McGrath (376 wickets) and Shane Warne (427) became only the second bowling partnership to register 800 Test wickets between them. The record for a concurrent pairing is held by Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose who, when they last played together at The Oval in 2000, had 888 scalps (Walsh 483, Ambrose 405) between them.
By dismissing Mark Boucher for 35, Warne overhauled Clarrie Grimmett (77) as Australia's top wicket-taker against South Africa, and also passed Charlie "Terror" Turner (45) to become the leading wicket-taker at Sydney.
Boeta Dippenaar's second innings of 74 was only the second time in 21 Test innings that he has passed 50. The other occasion was against New Zealand at the Wanderers in 2000-01, where he made an even 100.
Damien Martyn, playing in his 22nd Test, scored his fourth Test century and his second against South Africa. Since returning to Australia's Test team at Edgbaston in 2001, Martyn has scored 775 runs at an average of 70.45.
Australia have scored in excess of 350 in the first innings of every Test in their home season. Starting with the first innings of the summer, against New Zealand at Brisbane, Australia's scores read: 486 for 9 dec, 558 for 8 dec, 351, 439, 487 and 554. That's a total of 2875 runs, or 479 runs per innings.
Mark Waugh's first innings of 19 was his 200th in Test cricket. He is the ninth leading batsman to pass this mark, after Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar, Steve Waugh, Graham Gooch, David Gower, Mike Atherton, Desmond Haynes and Alec Stewart.
Steve Waugh became the third player, after Border and Gavaskar, to pass 9500 runs in Tests. He now has 9505 runs from 145 matches, at an average of 50.83.
Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden put on 219 for the first wicket, their fourth double-century opening partnership in Tests and an Australian record. They have now joined the exalted class of the mighty West Indian combination of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes.
While Greenidge and Haynes, the most prolific opening combination in the history of cricket, took 10 years (1979-80 to 1989-90) to amass their four double-century stands, the Australians have done it in one season. Langer and Hayden, both left-handers, passed 1000 runs in their 10th innings together and now have 1125 runs at an average of 112.50. That's easily the best of the nine combinations which have scored more than 1,000 runs.
The next best average of 63.75 belongs to Australians Bill Brown and Jack Fingleton who made 1020 runs together in 16 innings. Langer and Hayden are now the third most prolific left-handed opening pair in cricket history, behind the Kiwi combination John Wright and Bruce Edgar, and
Pakistanis Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar. Wright and Edgar made 1655 runs at 31.83 in 56 innings, while Sohail and Anwar have made 1563 runs at 44.66 in 37 innings.
Langer and Hayden's full sequence reads: 158, 224, 223, 3, 1, 80, 8, 202, 7, 219
Their partnership of 219 was a first-wicket record at Sydney, breaking the previous-best of 217, by Geoff Marsh and David Boon, against India in 1985-86.
Matthew Hayden (705) is the first Australian batsman to make 700 runs in a home season, since Greg Chappell (702) against West Indies in 1975-76.
Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes (WI): 298 v England 1989-90, St John's;
296 v India 1982-83, St. John's; 225 v New Zealand 1979-80, Christchurch; 250* v Australia 1983-84, Georgetown.
Matthew Hayden & Justin Langer (Aus): 224 v New Zealand 2001-02, Brisbane; 223 v New Zealand 2001-02, Hobart; 219 v South Africa 2001-02, Sydney; 202 v South Africa 2001-02, Melbourne.
Mark Taylor & Michael Slater (Aus): 260 v England 1993, Lord's; 228 v Sri Lanka 1995-96, Perth; 208 v England 1994-95, Sydney.
Bill Lawry & Bob Simpson (Aus): 382 v West Indies 1964-65, Bridgetown; 244 v England 1965-66, Adelaide; 201 v England 1964, Old Trafford.
Mike Atherton & Graham Gooch (Eng): 225 v India 1990, Old Trafford; 204 v India 1990, Lord's; 203 v Australia 1990-91, Adelaide.
Langer scored his 12th Test century in his 48th match, and his fifth in seven matches since his recall at The Oval in August 2001.
Hayden's century was his seventh in 27 Tests, his fourth in six Tests, and his third in three consecutive matches against South Africa. On 81, he reached 2000 runs in Test cricket.
© Wisden CricInfo Ltd
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