India's nightmare pair

Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke have become the second-most prolific pair for Australia in Tests against India

25-Jan-2012

More on double-centuries and triple-century partnerships, on another day of Test cricket that was completely dominated by Australia.

The 386-run partnership between Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke is the highest in Tests between Australia and India, going past the 376 that VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid put together in Kolkata in 2001.

It's the fourth-highest stand for Australia in Test cricket, and the second-best for the fourth wicket. Had the pair added three more runs, they'd have gone past the current fourth-wicket record of 388, between Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford against England in 1934. It's the third-highest for any team against India.

Ponting and Clarke have scored 942 partnership runs against India in eight innings, at an average of 117.75. In terms of partnership runs, they're only seven short of the record by an Australian pair against India: Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer have 949 runs, but from 20 innings.

This has been by far Clarke's best Test series. His highest aggregate in a series before this had been 448, in the 2009 Ashes in England, but here he has already amassed 589 at 147.25. He joins Don Bradman and Wally Hammond as the only players to score a triple and a double in the same series. Bradman did it twice, in 1934 and in 1930, while Hammond achieved it against New Zealand in 1932-33. Bradman scored two doubles and a triple in that 1930 Ashes. As a captain, though, Bradman and Graeme Smith are the only others to notch up two 200-plus scores in a series, and Clarke is the first one to get a triple and a double-century.

In all, there have been only 15 instances of a batsman scoring two or more 200-plus scores in a series. Bradman alone has done it four times, while Ponting is the only other Australian in that club. In the last 25 years, only five batsmen have managed it. This is the second such instance against India: Ponting had scored two double-hundreds against them in 2003-04.

Ponting joined in the fun too, at a ground where he has scored 1663 runs at 61.59, with six hundreds in 16 Tests, including two doubles. (Click here for his ground-wise averages.) Two of his three highest Test scores have now come in Adelaide.

This was only the 16th instance of two batsmen scoring double-centuries in a single innings, and the first in nearly three years. The last time it happened was when Mahela Jaywardene and Thilan Samaraweera got doubles in Karachi in February 2009. The last time two Australians scored double-hundreds in the same innings was way back in May 1965, when Bill Lawry and Bob Simpson went on a run-scoring spree in Barbados.

The Ponting-Clarke partnership was the second 300-plus stand in a series, following on the unbeaten 334-run association between Clarke and Michael Hussey in Sydney. It's only the second time that Australia have had two triple-century stands in a series. The only other occasion was in the 1934 Ashes series. It's the first time this has happened against India.

Ponting's double-hundred was the 19th in a Test at the Adelaide Oval, which is a record for any ground. The Oval in London has 18.

Rahul Dravid got out bowled for the sixth time in this series, which equals the record for India. The last Indian to get out bowled six times in a series was Anshuman Gaekwad, in the home series against West Indies in 1983-84.

In their last two overseas series, India have averaged 56.97 runs per wicket with the ball, and 24.50 with the bat.

Ricky Ponting Michael Clarke India Australia Australia vs India India tour of Australia

S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo. Follow him on Twitter