Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, 2020: 1st Test – Sri Lanka’s 10-wicket win, Mathews' record double century, Taylor's milestones and more stats

Sri Lanka completed a 10-wicket win against Zimbabwe to go 1-0 up in the 2-match Test series that began on Sunday. Zimbabwe made an impressive start in this match as each of their top three batters scored the fifties. However, they failed to capitalize on that and were bowled out for 358.

Sri Lanka, in reply, posted a huge total of 515/9 as Angelo Mathews scored his maiden Test double hundred. In the second essay, Zimbabwe lasted 92 overs but only scored 170. Sri Lanka needed three overs to chase down the 14-run target without losing a wicket.

All the statistical highlights from Sri Lanka’s 10-wicket victory against Zimbabwe in Harare:

A 10-wicket win after a while for Sri Lanka:

2012 – This Test recorded the 9th Test victory of Sri Lanka by a 10-wicket margin. The last of the previous 8 such wins came in November 2012 against New Zealand in Galle.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe lost seven Tests by 10 wickets before this game with the last instance being recorded way back in September 2005 against India in Harare.

A big defeat after a good start:

5 – Zimbabwe is only the 5th home side to lose by 10 wickets despite scoring 350+ in the first innings of a Test match. The last of the previous four instances were recorded by Bangladesh (387) during the 2012 Khulna Test against West Indies. The home teams ended up losing a Test by an innings margin on three instances after scoring 350+ in the first innings of a Test match.

Mathews’ slow double ton:

2015 – The last Sri Lankan before Angelo Mathews to score a double century in Test cricket was Kumar Sangakkara who scored 203 against New Zealand in the 2015 New Year Test in Wellington.

468 – Angelo Mathews needed 468 balls for his double ton, the joint 4th slowest double century by a Sri Lankan. Brendon Kuruppu, who scored a double ton on Test debut against New Zealand in 1987, needed 548 deliveries to breach the 200-run mark. It is the fastest known double century in Test cricket.

42.73 – Mathews’ batting strike rate of 42.73 is the 3rd lowest in a Test double century since the start of 2002. Cheteshwar Pujara had a batting SR of 38.47 during his 202 off 525 balls against Australia in 2017 Ranchi Test while Hashim Amla’s 201 during the 2016 Cape Town Test against England came off 477 balls at 42.13 strike rate.

Zimbabwe’s best start:

1 – Zimbabwe’s top three scored fifties during the first innings of this Test – Prince Masvaure (55), Kevin Kasuza (63) and Craig Ervine (85). This is the first-ever instance of Zimbabwe’s top three scoring fifty-plus runs in the same Test inning.

Ervine @ 1000 Test runs:

1033 – Craig Ervine completed 1000 runs in Test cricket when he was on 59 in the first innings. He is now the 15th player to aggregate 1000 Test runs for Zimbabwe. Only Ervine and Brendan Taylor (1899) are the only active Zimbabwe cricketers with 1000 Test runs.

Taylor @ 9000:

9010 – Brendan Taylor completed 9000 runs in International cricket for Zimbabwe during the 2nd essay. He is only the 4th player with 9000 International runs for the Zimbabwe team. Andy Flower (11580), Grant Flower (10028) and Hamilton Masakadza (9543) are the other three players with this feat.

9000 – During the 2nd innings, Taylor also completed 9000 runs in his first-class career. Till date, he has scored 9034 runs in 130 FC matches at an average of 40.51 with 32 centuries and 31 fifties.

Lakmal @ 300:

306 – Number of wickets for Suranga Lakmal in his 115-match first-class career. Lakmal got his 300th FC wicket during this match when he dismissed Brendan Taylor in the first innings.

Captain finishing off:

2014 – Captain Dimuth Karunaratne scored the winning run in this match for Sri Lanka. The last Lankan skipper to score winning runs in a Test match was Angelo Mathews in the 2014 Galle Test against Pakistan while chasing a 99-run target.