India v Sri Lanka, 2017: 2nd Test, Day 4 – Statistical Highlights

The 2nd Test match got over faster than anyone expected as the Sri Lankan side crumbled against Indian bowlers in the first session of the 4th day. The visiting side lost seven wickets in the morning session and it looked like they would be cleaned up before Lunch. However, their captain Dinesh Chandimal and Suranga Lakmal put on 58 for the 9th wicket but eventually they were bowled out in the 50th over and suffered a massive defeat by an innings and 239 runs.

Here are the stats and numbers during the innings victory of India.

3 – Ravichandran Ashwin became the 3rd player to take 50 wickets in Test cricket in three consecutive calendar years. He bagged 50+ Test wickets in 2015, 2016 and now in 2017. Shane Warne in 1993, 1994, 1995 and Muttiah Muralitharan in 2000, 2001, 2002 bagged over fifty Test wickets in three consecutive calendar years.

4 – Number of man of the match awards Virat Kohli has won in Test cricket as a captain. These are the joint most number of man of the match awards for an Indian captain in this format. Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin also bagged four man of the match awards in Test cricket while leading India.

12 – Dinesh Chandimal’s fifties in both the innings is only the 12th instance of a Sri Lankan captain scoring fifties in both innings of a Test. The last skipper to do so was Angelo Mathews in December 2014 against New Zealand in Christchurch. Chandimal is the 3rd Sri Lankan captain after Duleep Mendis in Kandy, 1985 and Marvan Atapattu in Delhi, 2005 to score fifties in both innings of a Test.

20 – India’s win in this game is their 20th win in Test cricket against Sri Lanka. These are the most number of wins for any team against Sri Lanka in this format. India went past Pakistan’s 19 Test wins over the Lankans.

32 – Number of wins in International cricket for India in 2017. These are the most number of International wins for India in a calendar year. They had 31 victories across all formats in 2016.

54 – Number of matches Ravichandran Ashwin needed for completing 300 wickets in Test cricket. He broke the record for becoming the fastest to the milestone of Dennis Lillee (56). Interestingly, Lillee set the record exactly 36 years ago on 27th November.

182 – Ashwin’s 182 out of 300 Test wickets have come while playing under Virat Kohli. These are the most Test wickets for an Indian player under a captain. He went past Anil Kumble’s tally of 179 wickets under Mohammad Azharuddin.

239 – India’s innings and 239-run win is their joint biggest by an innings margin in Test cricket equaling their innings and 239-run win against Bangladesh in 2010 in Dhaka. This is also the biggest innings defeat for Sri Lanka in Test cricket surpassing their 229-run win in Cape Town against South Africa in 2001.

239 – The innings and 239-run win is India’s biggest innings victory in a home Test match. Their previous biggest innings margin at home was by 219 runs against Australia in Kolkata in 1998.