Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, 2020: 2nd Test – Sikandar Raza's all-round show, A rare 400+ total by Zimbabwe, Williams' double and more stats

Sri Lanka won the 2-match Test series against Zimbabwe by 1-0 margin after the 2nd Test in Harare ended in a draw. Zimbabwe fought back was led by skipper Sean Williams who struck a century and an unbeaten fifty in respective innings. Sikandar Raza claimed a record 7-wicket haul going along with a 72 and a 34. Brendan Taylor scored quick half-centuries in both innings as Zimbabwe set a target of 361 on the final day. Kusal Mendis scored an unbeaten 116 in the 4th innings to seal the series for the visitors who ended up with 204/3 in 87 overs.

All the statistical highlights from the drawn Harare Test match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka:

A rare 400+ total for Zimbabwe:

406 – Zimbabwe’s first innings total of 406 in this game is only their 2nd 400+ total in Test cricket over the last 15 years. The other 400+ total in this period for Zimbabwe is 412 against Pakistan also in the first innings of the 2011 Bulawayo Test.

Records galore for Raza:

7/118 – Sikandar Raza became only the 2nd player to take a 7-wicket haul in Test cricket for Zimbabwe. Paul Strang claimed 8/109 in New Zealand’s first innings of the 2000 Bulawayo Test.

5 – Sikandar Raza became only the 5th player in the history of Test cricket to claim a 7-wicket haul alongside aggregating 100 runs in the same match. Albert Trott (vs ENG, Adelaide 1895), Jack Gregory (vs ENG, Melbourne 1920), Sir Ian Botham (Three instances) and Ravi Ashwin (vs WI, Antigua 2016) are the other four players with this double.

2 – Sikandar became the first Zimbabwe player to score fifty-plus runs and take a 5-wicket haul in the same Test match on two instances. He scored 80+ runs in both innings of the 2017 Bulawayo Test against West Indies alongside a 5-wicket haul. Four other players achieved this double once each for Zimbabwe.

A good game for captain Williams:

2 – Sean Williams became only the 2nd Zimbabwe player to score a century and a fifty in the same Test against Sri Lanka. Andy Flower scored 74 and 129 respectively in the 1999 Harare Test match also while leading the team.

4 – Sean Williams is also only the 4th Zimbabwe captain with a hundred and a fifty in the same Test. Andy Flower against Sri Lanka in 1999 Harare Test, Tatenda Taibu against Bangladesh in the 2005 Dhaka Test and Brendan Taylor on three instances (vs BAN, 2011 Harare, vs NZ, 2011 Bulawayo & vs BAN, 2013 Harare) recorded the double of a century and a fifty-plus score in the same Test as captain.

Embuldeniya nearly breaks his own record:

4/182 – Lasith Embuldeniya conceded 182 runs in the first innings of the game; the most runs conceded by a bowler against Zimbabwe in a Test inning. The previous most was 165 runs by Daniel Vettori during his 4-wicket haul in the 1997 Bulawayo Test.

263 – Across both innings, Lasith Embuldeniya conceded a total of 263 runs in this Test. These are the 2nd most runs conceded by a Sri Lankan bowler in a Test match. Embuldeniya himself gave away 264 runs during the last month’s Karachi Test against Pakistan.

Taylor @ 2000 runs:

2028 – Brendan Taylor completed 2000 runs in Test cricket with his 2nd innings fifty. He is now only the 6th player to complete 2000 Test runs but his average of 36.21 is second only to Andy Flower’s 51.54.