Listing visiting lower-order batters with this Test feat in England
What's the story
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has equaled an iconic record held by legendary Sir Garfield Sobers. On Day 5 of the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester, Jadeja scored his fifth 50-plus score of the ongoing series. With this, he matched Sobers's 1966 record for the most 50+ scores by a visiting lower-order batter in a Test series in England. Here we decode visiting batters with the most 50+ scores at No.6 or lower in a Test series in England.
Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja - 5
In the aforementioned fourth Test, Jadeja's unbeaten 107 was instrumental in helping India earn a draw. His other scores in the series read 11, 25*, 89, 69*, 72, 61*, and 20. These knocks have taken his series tally to 454 runs across 8 innings at 113.50. Notably, the 36-year-old breached the 300-run mark for the first time in a Test series.
Sobers
Gary Sobers - 5
As mentioned above, the only other visiting batter with five 50+ scores at six or lower in a Test series in England is WI great Gary Sobers. He accomplished this milestone in 1996. Across eight innings at that series, he scored 722 runs at 103.14. This includes three tons and a couple of fifties. Each of his three hundreds breached the 150-run mark as WI won that series 3-1.
Blundell & Dujon
Wicket-keepers occupy the following spot
The only other batters with at least four 50-plus scores on this list happen to be wicket-keepers. WI's Jeff Dujon scored four fifties across five innings in the 1988 series to finish with 252 runs at a fine average of 50.40. The visitors clinched that series 4-1. Meanwhile, New Zealand's Tom Blundell scored three fifties besides a ton across six innings in the 2022 series. He finished with 383 runs at 76.60 though NZ lost 0-3.