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Cape Town— South Africa’s Hashim Amla was involved in a bit of statistical history when he was dismissed on day three of the first Test in Port Elizabeth.
Amla became the 10 000th batsman dismissed leg before wicket (lbw) in Test cricket history when he fell for 48.
The Proteas star walked across his crease and missed a straight delivery off the bowling of Nuwan Pradeep to fall two runs short of a half-century.
Amla has been dismissed lbw 27 times in his 98 Tests to date with this the ninth lbw for the 33-year-old in 2016.
According to Cricinfo, there have been (so far) 269 Test lbw dismissals in 2016, which is the second highest in any calendar year.
Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar tops the list with the most lbw dismissals (63), while former Indian spinner Anil Kumble has captured the most lbw’s (156) in Test cricket.
In terms of percentage of lbw dismissals, JP Duminy has the highest with 19 of his 53 dismissals to date coming after being hit on the pads – at 35.85%.
South Africa look in a comfortable position heading into day four of the first Test with a commanding lead of 432 runs.
Skipper Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock will resume for the hosts on day four on 351/5 in their second innings.
Meanwhile, Australian great Glenn McGrath is the latest former cricketer to name his best Test XI from 2016. This follow’s the ICC’s announcement of their official Test side for the year, which somewhat curiously included Dale Steyn as the only South African while Australia captain Steve Smith was pushed to the bench.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan then named his side, which included three South Africans.
McGrath, who is considered one of the greatest seam bowlers of all time, then had his say on Australia’s Cricket.com.au website.
Like the ICC, McGrath opted for just one Protea, but it was not Steyn.
Instead, McGrath selected 21-year-old Kagiso Rabada.
Rabada has had a fantastic year for the Proteas and he was instrumental in their recent success in Australia.
McGrath opted for Virat Kohli as his captain.
Glenn McGrath’s 2016 Test team of the year:
David Warner, Joe Root, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, Yasir Shah
12th man: Stuart Broad
— Sport24.
Online Reporter