England v Sri Lanka 1st Test - Statistical Highlights

Hosts England thrashed Sri Lanka in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds. On a typically English wicket and conditions, Angelo Mathews would have considered himself lucky having won the toss and got the opportunity to make the call. He made the right decision by asking England to bat first. Though they didn’t get early wickets with the new ball but once Dasun Shanaka struck triple blows, the Lankan bowlers made a comeback. Their road wasn’t going to be as pleasant as Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow put up a resistive knock, they not only played away lot of overs but also kept the scoreboard ticking. Bairstow got to his second ton and soon after England fell off for 298. Sri Lankan batsmen could never quite get to terms with the wicket and quality seam bowling attack they were against. Jimmy Anderson and Co. folded them off twice in two days to seal the game by an innings and 80 runs to go one-up in the 3-Test series.

0 – Runs conceded by Dasun Shanaka before picking up the 2nd wicket of his Test career. He is only the 3rd player to pick two wickets before conceding a run in this format.

3 – England’s 1st innings in this Test was only the 3rd instance where No.4, No.5 and No.6 bowlers picked up 2 wickets each in the same innings in Test cricket.

What were the talking points of the game? – England v Sri Lanka 1st Test – 5 Talking Points

3 – Jonny Bairstow now has 3 centuries in his last four first-class innings at Leeds. He made his career best 246 in last month and 198 just before this series.

3/46 – Dasun Shanaka’s 3 for 46 on debut was the 2nd best figures for a Sri Lankan pacer who was making his Test debut in an away Test. Lasith Malinga had recorded 4 for 42 in Darwin vs Australia on his debut.

7 – Jonny Bairstow, scoring a century and taking five catches behind wickets by a keeper in an innings is 7th such instance in Test cricket.

9 – Number of catches Jonny Bairstow took in this game. This is the 2nd time he has effected 9 dismissals in a Test as keeper.

26 – Runs scored by Sri Lanka’s top four batsmen collectively in their first innings. These are the second fewest they have added in an inning in an away Test. At Wellington in 1982-83, their top four collectively scored only 21 runs.

45 – Runs conceded by James Anderson for his 10-wicket haul. These are the 5th fewest runs conceded by a bowler for a 10-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Also check out – Twitter Reactions: England rout Sri Lanka in the first Test

210 – Runs scored by Sri Lanka in this game, their joint lowest in a Test which had a result.

298 – England’s 298 is the 2nd lowest total scored in first innings of a Test to enforce follow-on. Highest is 288 by India vs Sri Lanka in 1990. (Follow on rule of 200 runs)

433 – Balls played by Sri Lanka in this game, the second-lowest in a game they have lost.

443 – Number of wickets James Anderson has in Tests. Only 5 bowlers are ahead of him in the all-time Test list.

976 – Total number of balls bowled in the entire Test. Since 1950, these are the fourth lowest in a Test match which had a result.

2013 – Last time when England enforced follow-on in Tests was in 2013 against New Zealand at Wellington.

How did the match pan out? – Eng v SL, 1st Test Review: Anderson’s ten stumps Sri Lanka twice in two days