Records from an astonishingly chaotic day one at Newlands

A host of records were set as a staggering 23 wickets tumbled on a chaotic first day of the second Test between South Africa and India at Newlands on Wednesday.

Two teams were bowled out on the opening day as the Proteas manage just 55 runs batting first before India were bundled out for 153. South Africa were 62/3 at the close.

Here are some of the records that fell on day one:

South Africa’s 55 was the lowest post-isolation score on home soil eclipsing the 83 all out against England at the Wanderers in 2016. It was also the lowest total after winning the toss and choosing to bat, a record set by South Africa in the first Test ever played in this country in Port Elizabeth in 1889 when they made 84. 

55 is also the lowest Proteas total against India, which was previously 79 in Nagpur in 2015.

It is also the lowest total by any team against India, a record that previously belonged to New Zealand, who in 2021 made 62.

The figure of 349 balls was the second-fewest number for the completion of two innings in a Test. That record still belongs to England and Australia, who in 1902 combined for just 287 balls to complete their respective first innings’ in Melbourne.

India are the first team to lose six wickets without scoring a run in a Test innings. The Indian collapse saw them lose those six wickets in only 11 balls as their innings finished on 153. 

The six ducks in India’s innings equalled the record for the most in a Test innings. Of the seven times that has happened, this is the second occasion India have done so. South Africa are also on the list, that ignominious feat coming against India.

The 23 wickets that fell were the second-most taken on the first day of a Test. That record still belongs to the Melbourne Test of 1902, in which 25 fell on the first day.