Sri Lanka v Australia 3rd Test – Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka pulled off one of the famous victories in Test cricket to whitewash Australia at home in the 3-match series. The hosts were 26/5 in first innings after electing to bat but a huge 6th wicket stand helped them to post a respectable total. Australia took a 24-run lead despite a 246-run stand for 2nd wicket. Australia were set a target of 324 runs in 5 and half hours. However, the visitors collapsed for the 2nd time in the game after a good start to concede a 163-run win to the hosts. Here we look at all the stats and records recorded during the match.

Statistical Highlights – Sri Lanka v Australia, 3rd Test:

1 – Dhananjaya de Silva became the first Sri Lankan to score a century and fifty while batting at No.7 or lower in a Test match.

3 – Kaushal Silva is only the 3rd Sri Lankan to score a century in his maiden innings at No.3 in Test cricket. Roshan Mahanama and Thilan Samaraweera are the other two.

3 – Mitchell Starc picked up 3 consecutive 5-wicket hauls in this Test. (2 in 2nd Test and 1 in first innings of this Test) Last time an Australia picked up 3 five-fers in consecutive Test innings was Shane Warne in 2004 also in a Test series in Sri Lanka.

4 – Number of times Rangana Herath has taken 12 wickets in a Test match, joint 2nd most by any player in the format.

4 – Number of man of the series awards Rangana Herath has in Test Cricket, joint 2nd most for a Sri Lankan.

5 – This is the 5th instance of a team losing their first 5 wickets at a score less than or equal to 26 in first innings of a Test match and ending up on winning side. Pakistan was the winning team on last 3 such occasions.

6 – Number of Ten wicket hauls Rangana Herath has in Tests, joint most by left-arm spinner in the format.

8 – Number of five-wicket hauls Rangana Herath has in 4th innings in Test cricket, most by any player. Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan had 7 each.

9 – Number of fifty plus stands Sri Lanka recorded for 6th or lower wicket, the most they had in a Test series. They had 8 fifty plus stands for 6th or lower wicket in a series vs India in 2009 and vs Pakistan in UAE in 2013-14.

10 – Australia average for last 4 wickets in this series. This is their 2nd lowest in last 100 years for them in a series where they had 20 or more partnerships for the 7th and lower wickets.

11 – Number of consecutive Test series where Steven Smith has scored at least one 90+ score, joint 2nd most by any player. Rohan Kanhai scored in 15 consecutive Test series.

13/145 – Rangana Herath’s bowling figures in this Test are the best figures by a Sri Lankan against Australia.

24 – Wickets taken by Mitchell Starc in this series, most by a non-Asian pacer in a Test series in Asia.

26 – Number of five-wicket hauls Rangana Herath has in Test cricket. 7th most by any player and 4th most by a spinner.

28 – Wickets taken by Rangana Herath in this series, joint 3rd most by any bowler in a Test series against Australia. Among Sri Lankans, even Muralitharan picked up 28 wickets in a series vs Australia.

70 – Number of wickets picked up by left-arm bowlers in this series, the most in a 3-match Test series. Previous highest is 49 wickets in two different series.

116 – Number of wickets picked up by bowlers in this series, the 2nd most in a 3-match Test series. Highest is 117 wickets during Sri Lanka-India series in 2015.

136 – Balls space in which Australia lost their 10 wickets in the 2nd innings, the 3rd lowest for Australia in Tests since 1998.

194 – Runs scored by Dhananjaya de Silva while batting at No.7 or lower in this Test, most by a Sri Lankan in a Test.

233 – Runs conceded by Nathan Lyon in this Test, 2nd most by a non-Asian bowler in a Test in Sri Lanka. Nicky Boje conceded 236 runs at Galle in 2004.

301 – Runs scored for 6th wicket in this Test by Sri Lanka, the most runs scored for 6th wicket against Australia by any team in a Test. India aggregated 298 for 6th wickets at Mumbai in 1986.

2460 – Balls bowled in this Test. This is the longest result producing Test in terms of balls in subcontinent which includes Australia since August, 2004. Previous longest in this period was 2437 balls at Bangalore in 2010.