Stats: Rangana Herath leads Sri Lanka to victory with 400th Test wicket

At 39, Rangana Herath still continues to carry the burden of Sri Lankan Test team as his champion bowling performance saved the day for his team at Abu Dhabi against Pakistan. When a Pakistani victory seemed to be a cakewalk after the Lankans were bowled out for 138 in their 2nd innings, Herath turned down the odds to lead his team to a historic six wickets win in the 2nd innings and finished the game with 11.

He became only the 14th player in Test history to take 400 wickets with the milestone wicket sealing the game for his team. He is the only left-arm spinner among these 14 players with 400 Test wickets and only the 2nd left-arm bowler after Wasim Akram (414) to achieve this milestone. Among Sri Lankans, only Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 400 Test wickets before Herath and he added 400 more before retiring. Herath also became the 4th quickest to 400 Test wickets by taking only 84 matches.

Quickest to 400 wickets in Test cricket:

With the two five-fers in the 1st Test against Pakistan, he now has 33 five-wicket hauls in his Test cricket which are the 5th most by any player. His nine 10-wicket match hauls are also the joint 3rd most for any player in this format.

Most five-wicket hauls and 10-wicket match hauls in Test cricket:

Rangana Herath’s 5th wicket in the 2nd innings was his 100th Test wicket against Pakistan and thus became the 1st player to take a ton of wickets in this format against the Pakistan team. His eight 5-fers against them are also the most for any player.

Most wickets by a player against Pakistan in Test cricket:

With the help of six wickets in the 2nd innings, Herath became the only the 4th player to complete 100 wickets in the 4th innings in Test cricket. His 11 five-fers in the 4th innings are most by a fair margin as no other player picked more than seven 5-fers in the 4th innings. Since turning 35, Herath has picked up 200 wickets, which is also the most for any player.

Most wickets in 4th innings in Test cricket:

Most wickets after turning 35 in Test cricket:

(Stats as on October 2, 2017)