Stats highlights from the first day’s play at the MCG
Sampath Bandarupalli26-Dec-20241:51
Manjrekar explains how Konstas took down Bumrah
19 years 85 days — Sam Konstas’ age on debut, making him the youngest Australian opener in men’s Tests. He’s also the fourth youngest Australian male cricketer, and the second youngest to score a fifty in men’s Tests.52 — Deliveries Konstas took to bring up fifty, the third fastest for Australia on Test debut after Adam Gilchrist (off 46 balls vs Pakistan in 1999) and Ashton Agar (50 balls vs England in 2013).66 — Number of not-in-control shots played by Australia’s batters in the first 40 overs at the MCG, but India were able to take just one wicket in this period. Since 2002, as per ESPNcricinfo’s logs, only two teams have played more false shots in a Test innings without losing more than one wicket: India (73) vs England at Trent Bridge in 2007, and England (67) vs Ireland at Lord’s in 2019.
18 — Runs scored by Konstas in the 11th over of Australia’s innings — making it the most expensive over of Jasprit Bumrah’s Test career.ESPNcricinfo Ltd13.1 overs — Konstas brought up his fifty on debut in record time, surpassing India’s Prithvi Shaw, who reached a half-century on debut in 17.4 overs against West Indies in Rajkot in 2018.56.9 — Konstas’ control percentage during his innings of 60 off 65 balls, the second lowest for a 50-plus score in men’s Tests since 2015. The lowest is 53.43% by Southee, during his 65 against India in Bengaluru this year.
4562 — Balls bowled by Bumrah in Tests without conceding a six before Konstas’ reverse scoop in the seventh over. Cameron Green was the previous batter to hit a six off Bumrah during the 2021 Sydney Test. Bumrah has conceded only nine sixes in Tests, of which Jos Buttler and Konstas hit two apiece.216 — Runs scored by Australia’s top-three batters in the first three Tests of this series, with one fifty-plus score between them. The top three scored 192 runs at the MCG, with all of them scoring half-centuries.
