Pakistan vs South Africa stats: Saeed Ajmal becomes leading wicket-taker in 2013

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal picked up six wickets in the first Test against South Africa, including four in the second innings as he became this year's most successful bowler in Tests. Here are some other statistical highlights from the final day's play of the Abu Dhabi Test.


# Pakistan's triumph by seven wickets is their second biggest in terms of wickets over South Africa in Tests next only to the eight-wicket win at Lahore in October 2003.


# Pakistan's aforesaid win is their fourth in 22 Tests against South Africa (lost eleven and drawn seven) - winning % 18.18.


# Pakistan have recorded their second win in four Tests at Abu Dhabi - their first being by 72 runs vs England in January 2012. (Two drawn).


# Since losing by 208 runs to Sri Lanka at Durban in December 2011, South Africa have lost their first Test. South Africa had won their previous six Tests.


# Before losing the Abu Dhabi Test to Pakistan, South Africa remained unbeaten in fifteen Tests since January 2012, winning ten and drawing the remaining five.


# Jean-Paul Duminy's fifth duck in Tests is his first vs Pakistan.


# Abraham de Villiers (90) has registered his 33rd fifty in Tests - his third against Pakistan.


# De Villiers, after 86 Tests, has been maintaining an average of fifty-plus - his aggregate being 6473 (ave.50.57) in 144 innings.


# De Villiers' 90 off 157 balls is his second highest Test score at Abu Dhabi, next only to his career-best 278 not out vs Pakistan in November 2010.


# De Villiers is the leading run-getter in Tests at Abu Dhabi - 412 in two Tests at an average of 137.33. Misbah-ul-Haq has the next best tally - 405 (ave.81.00) in four Tests, including a hundred and three fifties.


# De Villiers' batting average of 59.25 is the highest in South Africa-Pakistan Tests - his aggregate being 948 in eleven Tests, including three hundreds and three fifties.(minimum 800 runs).


# Amongst the batsmen with 4,000 runs or more in Tests since January 2008, De Villiers' average is the highest - his tally being 4400 (ave.61.97) in 53 Tests.  His tally includes 13 hundreds and 20 fifties.


# de Villiers is only the second wicketkeeper in Test annals to have maintained batting average of fifty-plus - 1128 (ave.51.27) in 15 Tests (minimum 1000).  Andy Flower had managed 4404 runs at an average of 53.70 in 55 Tests as wicketkeeper for Zimbabwe


# Robin Peterson (47 not out) has recorded his third highest score in Tests - his top two innings being 84 vs Pakistan at Cape Town in February 2013 and 61 vs Bangladesh at Dhaka in May 2013.


# Saeed Ajmal (4/74) has produced his best bowling performance in Tests at Abu Dhabi.


# Ajmal, with 16 wickets at 30.37 runs apiece in three Tests, is the top wicket-taker at Abu Dhabi.


# Ajmal is the first bowler to complete 50 wickets in Tests in UAE - his tally being 51 (ave.23.54) in eight Tests.


# Ajmal is the leading wicket-taker in international cricket in 2013 - 70 at an average of 23.21 in 30 matches, obliterating Stuart Broad's tally of 66 (ave.26.24) in 24 matches.


# Azhar Ali has posted 0, 7, 0, 11 & 3 in his last five Test innings.


# Azhar has averaged 19.33 in six Tests this year - his tally being 232 in twelve innings, including two fifties - his worst batting performance in a calendar year.


# Vernon Philander's bowling record is exceptionally good in Tests - his tally being 94 wickets (ave.17.23) in 17 Tests, including nine instances of five wickets in an innings and two instances of ten wickets in a Test match.  His strike rate of 36.8 is equally good.


# Philander has captured 20 wickets (ave.16.60) in four Tests vs Pakistan.


# Jacques Kallis has emulated Ricky Ponting's tally of 196 catches in Tests.  Both now share the second place, next only to Rahul Dravid's tally of 210.


# Misbah's strike rate of 107.69 (28 not out off 26 balls) is his career-best in a Test innings (minimum double-digit score).


# Khurram Manzoor has received his first Man of the Match award in Tests.


# Under Misbah's captaincy, Pakistan have won eleven, lost five and drawn seven out of 23 Tests contested - winning % 47.82.