India vs South Africa - The ODI rivalry in numbers

India and South Africa are expected to put up a great fight in the upcoming seriesThe India-South Africa rivalry spans more than two decades. There have been some terrific encounters that have engraved their place in the hearts of many fans around the world. Be it Sachin’s superman innings in Gwalior or Dale Steyn’s fiery spell at Nagpur, matches between the two nations have always produced some fine moments that have glorified cricket even further.Despite South Africa’s superiority in both the batting and bowling departments over India in the last 24 years, they don’t have an ICC trophy to boast off. On the other hand, the Men in Blue have won both the T20 and the 50-over World Cup, once each, in that time frame.Statistics, as the saying goes, are like mini-skirts – they reveal a lot, but hide the most important things. However, we all love the numbers game and as South Africa and India are set to lock horns, we look at the numbers that have defined 24 years’ worth of history.

#1 Head-to-head

India came out on top against South Africa, the last time they played against each other, at the 2015 World Cup

The nadir of all things to begin with. Cricket is a team sport and, hence, how they fared up against each other as a unit will be our first priority. In this regard, India are far behind the Proteas as in the 71 matches between them, the latter has come out on top in 42 of them compared to India’s 26. Out of the 71 matches, 23 were in India, 28 on South African soil and 20 on neutral venues.

Of the matches played in India, the home team has won 13 and the away team 10 times. In South African, the record is a whopping 21-5 in favour of the home team with 2 games failing to produce a result.

Finally, on neutral venues, the South Africans once again have the upper hand as they have won 11 and India just 8 in the aforementioned amount of games that they played against each other.

#2 Highest totals

Tendulkar’s 200 powered India to 401, the highest total in India-South Africa ODIs

India-South Africa games have produced some gargantuan scores over the years. Fans have almost on every occasion left the stadium after having their appetite of watching big hits fulfilled. It should come as no surprise given that both teams consist of some great hitters of the ball.

The highest total in this rivalry was powered up by India in Gwalior – the game that everyone remembers for Sachin’s astounding knock of 200 not out. In that game, India posted an almost unassailable 401 runs on the board with just the loss of 3 wickets.

Second in the list is South Africa’s 365 for just 2. This came in Ahmedabad – in the very next game after Gwalior – with all the four batsmen of South Africa’s top order – Loots Bosman, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers – firing on all cylinders to achieve the huge total.

For the next highest total, we have to head to Johannesburg where the Proteas scored 358/4. Number 4 on the list is India’s 331/7 at Cardiff in 2013 and, finally, completing the Top 5 list is South Africa’s 320 in Nagpur way back in 2000.

#3 Wins by highest margin

Kallis’ all-round heroics helped South Africa register a 157-run victory – the joint highest margin of victory

Even though fans enjoy tight games, the ones that go down the wire, the most, the winning team gets more pleasure with a victory by a huge win margin. Every team goes on the field with hopes of a dominating win and these encounters have produced some epic margins themselves.

The first on the list was a game where cricket saw Jacques Kallis at his finest. It was one the greatest all-round performances and certainly the best one in these fixtures. Kallis’ 119 helped South Africa post a competitive total of 248 before he returned to take 3 wickets for 3 runs to bundle India out for an embarrassing figure of 91 runs – ensuring a 157 runs win for the Proteas.

Following this is a 153 run win for India in Dhaka in a game which will be remembered for Mohammed Kaif’s heroics in a terrific knock of 95 runs. After this comes the Gwalior game where India won by the same amount of runs after Sachin Tendulkar scored the first ever double hundred in ODIs.

The last 2 wins on this list are South Africa’s 141 and 135 runs victories in Johannesburg and Durban, respectively.

#4 Highest runs

Ganguly scored 1313 runs against South Africa at an average of more than 50

The numbers that define the characteristics of a batsman. These 2 teams have produced many greats, but with 2001 runs in 57 innings, at an average of 35.73, Sachin Tendulkar leads the charts. Sachin might have scored the most runs, but his average—which is 9 less than his career average—suggests that he didn’t quite enjoy his usual success against the Proteas.

Jacques Kallis is the next name here as he powered his way through 1535 runs against India in just 34 innings and at an incredible average of 61.40. Kallis always enjoyed batting against the Indian bowling line up, so did Gary Kirsten as he is the next mention on the list.

Kirsten’s class got him 1377 runs at an average that betters even Kallis’, 62.59. He played just 26 innings to get to that number. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid complete the top 5 with 1313 and 1309 runs in their 29 and 36 innings. Ganguly’s average, however, is a remarkable 50.50 while that of Dravid is a respectable 39.66.

#5 Best Individual scores

Dhawan;s knock of 137 in the 2015 World Cup clash is third on the list

This is a list dominated by Indian batsmen. And the first name here is once again that of Sachin Tendulkar. The Master Blaster’s epic innings of 200* still echoes in the walls of the minds of billions. When he ran across the pitch to reach the milestone, a lot of souls felt redeemed at witnessing this transcendental knock.

After Sachin comes the Prince of Calcutta’s fine knock of 141* runs in Nairobi, an innings that helped India beat South Africa by 95 runs. Shikhar Dhawan’s 137 earlier this year is the next knock on this list which is rounded off by two more left-handers in Quintin de Kock’s 135 and Graeme Smith’s 134.

Looking at the list, left-handers do enjoy playing long innings in these encounters.

#6 Highest wickets

Allan Donald used to strike fear into the Indian batsmen

When one compares the bowling attacks of these two teams, it is very apparent that India’s bowling attack is like a candle to the behemoth that is the Sun. The overwhelming amount of South African names in this section works as a testament.

In 33 games, Shaun Pollock’s 48 wickets is the highest number of scalps gathered in this rivalry. Pollock just loved to bowl against India but the guy next on the least, however, was feared even more. Allan Donald’s other-worldly stats of 46 wickets in just 26 games shows how troublesome he was for the Indian batsmen.

Anil Kumble might have the same number of wickets as Donald, but it took him 39 innings to get those 46 wickets – which puts him third in the list.

Finally, the two great South African all-rounders, Lance Klusener and Jacques Kallis, complete the list with 31 wickets each. However, the former needed only 20 innings to reach that figure, whereas the latter had to bowl 33 times to do so.

#7 Best figures

Joshi’s figures of 10-6-6-5 are by far the best bowling figure in ODI matches between the two nations

Another list that shows South Africa’s superiority in the bowling department. Most of these spells came in the early years, with just one coming after the turn of the millennium.

First up and the only Indian on the list is the long-forgotten slow left arm bowler, Sunil Joshi. He absolutely devastated the South African batting, giving away just 6 runs in the 10 overs and taking 5 wickets in the process. It was one of the best bowling performances ever given by a bowler.

The next 4 players on the top 5 list are all South Africans. Allan Donald’s 5 for 29 in Calcutta remains a memorable performance which is closely followed by Hansie Cronje’s 5 for 32, Shaun Pollock’s 5 for 37 and, finally, Lance Klusener’s 5 for 42.