Umesh Yadav Creates World Record After Blasting 31 Off 10 Balls Against South Africa

Umesh Yadav tearing apart their bowling was the last thing South Africa would have expected on this tour which has already been a nightmare for them. The Proteas have looked like a club-level team with India thoroughly dominating the proceedings.

The hosts beat South Africa by 203 runs in the first Test before winning the second one by an innings and 203 runs. Things started promisingly for the visitors in the third Test as they had India reeling at 39 for 3. But from thereon, it all went haywire for them. Rohit Sharma scored a double century while Ajinkya Rahane scored a century to bail India out of trouble and put the team in a commanding position.

Ravindra Jadeja’s fifty then helped the hosts cross the 450-run mark. Umesh Yadav piled more misery on the tourists by slamming 31 runs from just 10 balls. The fast-bowler started the innings by hitting George Linde for two consecutive sixes. And when Linde came on to bowl his next over, Umesh Yadav hit three more sixes.

In the process, Umesh Yadav ended up making a world record. He now has the best strike-rate in Tests for a player who has scored more than 25 runs in an innings. He broke former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming’s record who had scored 31 from 11 against South Africa in 2003-04 season. Ryan Harris is at third spot for his 9-ball 25 runs knock against India while Muttiah Muralitharan is at fourth.

Here is the list showing the highest strike-rate in an innings in Tests (25+ runs)

310 – Umesh Yadav (31/10) v SA Ranchi 2019/20
282 – Stephen Fleming (31*/11) v SA Auckland 2003/04
278 – Ryan Harris (25/9) v Ind SCG 2014/15
264 – Muttiah Muralitharan (29/11) v Ind Kanpur 2009/10

Meanwhile, India declared their innings on 497 for 9. In reply, South Africa were 9 for 2 before bad light brought an early end to the day.

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