England vs South Africa: The Oval completes a century of Tests

It was The Oval which hosted the first Test in England in 1880 and it now joins fellow London venue Lord’s and Australia’s Melbourne and Sydney Cricket Grounds to witness a century of Tests

The Oval in South London is now just the fourth ground in world cricket to stage 100 Test matches. The ongoing third game of the four-Test series between England and South Africa marks the historic achievement of the venue. (ENG v SA Oval Test SCORECARD)

The Oval in England is the fourth cricket ground to host 100 international Test matches.(AFP)

It was The Oval which hosted the first Test in England in 1880 and it now joins fellow London venue Lord’s and Australia’s Melbourne and Sydney Cricket Grounds to witness a century of Tests.

The South London headquarters of county side Surrey has witnessed many memorable matches in the 137 years since it staged the first Test in England more than 200 years back. Here’s a look at some of the key numbers in The Oval’s 137-year Test history:

--> The Oval Cricket Ground, Kennington, London – which was established in 1845 - organised its first Test in 1880.

--> The first-ever Test on the English soil was played at the venue in September 1880. Riding on WG Grace’s 152 and Fred Morley’s 8/146, hosts England beat Australia by five wickets.

England's Alastair Cook plays a shot on the first day of the third Test match against South Africa at The Oval on Thursday. England have won 40 Tests at the ground. (AFP)

--> So far**, England have played 99 Tests at The Oval. They’ve won 40; lost 22 and the remaining have resulted in a draw.

--> Indian cricket team’s only victory at the venue came in 1971 under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar. The last time the current World No. 1 team drew a Test against England at the venue was in 2007.

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Highest innings score:

903-7/d - England v Australia, 1938

Lowest innings score

44 - Australia v England, 1896

Most runs

1,521 - Leonard Hutton (ENG), 1937-51

1,097 - Graham Gooch (ENG), 1978-94

930 - Walter Hammond (ENG), 1928-46

Most runs by an overseas batsman

553 - Don Bradman (AUS), 1930-48

Most hundreds

5 - Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG), 1924-34

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Highest scores

364 - Leonard Hutton ENG v AUS, 1938

311* - Hashim Amla RSA v ENG, 2012

291 - Vivian Richards WI v ENG, 1976

266 - Bill Ponsford AUS v ENG, 1934

260 - Javed Miandad PAK v ENG, 1987

Most wickets

52 - Ian Botham (ENG), 1978-91

45 - Derek Underwood (ENG), 1967-77

40 - Jim Laker (ENG), 1949-58

Most wickets by an overseas bowler

32 - Shane Warne (AUS), 1993-2005

Most wickets in a match

16 - Muttiah Muralitharan (SL), 1998

**Stats included till July 27

(With inputs from S. Pervez Qaiser)