Verreynne, Stubbs, and De Zorzi Enter The Elite Group of South African Cricket Players

On six separate trips to Asia, South Africa has scored three or more hundreds in a row in men’s Test matches. They once scored four goals in a single game at Eden Gardens in November and December 1996. However, they only did so on Monday, July 2014.

Heavyweights Gary Kirsten, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, and AB de Villiers are on the honor roll for this accomplishment.

At this point in their careers, relative lightweights like Tristan Stubbs, Tony de Zorzi, and Kyle Verreynne might not appear deserving of a spot on the list. They have earned it thanks to their accomplishments on the current tour in Bangladesh.

Verreynne’s 114 in Mirpur last week was followed by De Zorzi’s undefeated 141 and Stubbs’ 106 on the opening day of the second Test in Chattogram on Monday, which saw South Africa finish with a dominant 307 for 2. Kagiso Rabada’s 3 for 27 and 6 for 46, along with Verreynne’s effort, propelled a seven-wicket victory in four days.

“This ranks as favoriter favourite hundred,” Stubbs said at a press conference following Monday’s stumping. Given that it was his first Test century, some people will find that strange.

However, he also has five in other first-class games, three in other list-A games, and an ODI ton. In his nine Test innings, he reached the 70s both times, marking the second time he had reached 50.

It was also De Zorzi’s first century at this level. It happened in his fourteenth inning, two of which had pushed past seventy. He and Stubbs are the only South African players to have raised their bat for their first Test hundred in Asia, joining Jonty Rhodes, Daryll Cullinan, Jacques Rudolph, Andrew Hall, Alviro Petersen, and Theunis de Bruyn. Complete your betpro exchange registration and see all cricket highlights.

When Stubbs said, “I’ve been in the Caribbean [for a Test series in August] and the UAE [for white-ball games against Ireland in September and October], I’m sure they all understood what he meant. It has been boiling.

I’m attempting to adjust to the oppressive heat as much as possible. I’m trying to keep my gloves dry because I sweat a lot. Luckily, I’ve received a lot of [gloves] from a kind sponsor.

In cricket’s concept of Asia, which encompasses the Middle East, De Zorzi and Stubbs’ 201 for the second wicket was South Africa’s only double-century partnership since Smith and De Villiers’ 338 for the fifth wicket against Pakistan in Dubai in October 2013.

It was their first partnership to reach 200 runs away from home since November 2016 and their first anywhere since October 2017.

However, it was also Chattogram’s most miniature three-figure stand; in April 2003, Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar shared an unbroken 429, and in February and March 2008, Neil McKenzie and Smith put on 415.

Despite this, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium is still the happiest Asian run-hunting ground in South Africa. In addition to four at Eden Gardens in Rawalpindi and Dubai, they have six hundred partnerships at SSC in Colombo.

Both Stubbs and de Zorzi were exceptionally patient. As a result, Bangladesh’s attendance decreased during the day, and their performance accordingly declined. They lost the toss and missed the opportunity to bat first on a perfectly level field, but there isn’t much they can do about it.

However, they blew two reviews, one on a lbw call when the ball had pitched outside leg and the other on a caught behind appeal when the edge had not been located. They also lost De Zorzi when he was on six and 69, and they mishandled a Stubbs stumping when he was 25.

To avoid losing the series, which they have only done seven times in their last 22 rubbers in Asia, the visitors will need to play terribly from now on.

Despite weather limiting play to four days in two matches in Chattogram and Mirpur in July 2015, they returned from the subcontinent without a single player scoring a century in four of those series.

The idea that South Africa’s batters perform worst on Asia’s dusty, twisting pitches is untrue, though. There, they average 31.53, which is only 0.42 lower than their average at home. With a score of 35.23, they are most successful in the Caribbean. With an average of 28.76, England is their actual weak point.

Naturally, not every Asian opponent is made equal. The average for Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan is 28.19, 28.50, and 32.32, respectively.

To read more blog: 3 Fastest Fifties in Test Cricket for India

That is also oversimplified. Each of those teams’ incarnations and South Africa’s have unique advantages and disadvantages. Had the South African side of the 1990s been fortunate enough to have a spinner of Keshav Maharaj’s caliber, how much more successful could they have been in Asia?

A more pressing concern was how South Africa could take 20 wickets on a pitch as suitable for batting as Mirpur’s surface was for bowling. “KG can just bowl because we have him.