When rival captains Faf du Plessis and Steve Smith shared the toss at Cape Town yesterday, Morne Morkel was on 297 Test wickets, Nathan Lyon on 296.
Lyon took the lead with the last two South African wickets of Kagiso Rabada and Morkel in one over, both caught in the slips by Smith who claimed five in the innings.
But Morkel cracked the 300-wicket barrier with the scalps of Usman Khawaja hooking, Smith in the gully and Shaun Marsh chasing outside off stump. Morkel became only the fifth South African member to join the coveted 300 club.
Shaun Pollock shows the way with 421 at 23.11, followed by Dale Steyn (419 at 22.32), Makhaya Ntini Ntini (390 at 28.82), and Allan Donald’s 330 at 22.25.
(AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Morkel is one of Test cricket’s tallest timbers at 198 cms, but no-one gets anywhere near the tallest of the timbers – Pakistan’s Mohammad Irfan who is a whopping 216 cms, or 7 foot 1 inch in the old measure.
There are four at 203 cms – West Indian Joel Garner, England and Northern Ireland’s William Boyd Rankin, with two Australians Bruce Reid, and Peter George.
Another three are at 201 cms – West Indians Curtley Ambrose and Jason Holder, with Englishman Chris Tremlett, while Kiwi Jacob Oram, and another West Indian Courtney Walsh are in the Morkel status,
Interestingly, of the 33 top wicket-takers in Test cricket history, only eight are spinners with Murali, Shane Warne, and Anil Kumble the top three.
Murali’s staggering 800 at 22.72 is way in front of Warne’s 708 at 25.41, and Indian leggie Kumble’s 619 at 29.65.
Then comes Indian offie Harbhajan Singh (417 at 32.46), Sri Lanka’s left-armer Rangana Herath (415 at 28.17), Kiwi left-armer Daniel Vettori (362 at 34.36), Indian offie Ravi Ashwin (311 at 25.56), and the first to crack 300 – what seems an eternity ago – West Indian offie Lance Gibbs with 309 at 29.09.
No doubt Lyon will join the 300 club later today to become the sixth Australian after Warne, Glenn McGrath (563 at 21.64), Dennis Lillee (355 at 23.92), Mitchell Johnson (313 at 28.40), and Brett Lee’s 310 at 30.81.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Even though Morkel and Lyon are chalk and cheese as physical specimens, comparing their stats makes for interesting reading.
This is Morkel’s 85th Test and 157th innings compared to Lyon’s 77th Test and 146th dig.
Morkel has bowled 16,296 deliveries, Lyon 18,522.
Morkel’s average is 28.12, Lyon’s 31.74.
Morkel has taken five wickets in an innings seven times, Lyon has achieved the feat on 12 occasions.
But Morkel has never taken ten wickts in an innngs, while Lyon has done it twice.
With the third Test in Cape Town slightly in South Africa’s favour after two days, there’s no doubt both Morne Morkel and Nathan Lyon will play vital roles on the outcome with the series locked at one apiece, and the New Wanderers in Johannesburg still to play.
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