Published: Aug 17, 2015, 07:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 16, 2015, 01:26 PM (IST)
The first Test of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka at Galle ended with Sri Lanka clinching victory by 63 runs on the fourth day. Bharath Seervi presents important statistics and records from the Test. READ: Rangana Herath spins out India with 7/48 as Sri Lanka win 1st Test at Galle by 63 runs
It was August 15. Indian fans were expecting an easy win at the Galle as the target was a mere 176. A 1-0 lead was on the cards. But it seemed their batsmen would be bowled out for 69 — on India’s 69th Independence Day. Eventually they crawled to 112 lost the Test by 63 runs. READ: Rangana Herath: An ode to the rotund banker
Sri Lanka coming back to win the test match after being 5 for 3 on Day Two with a trail of 187 runs is indeed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Test cricket. India dominated most of the Test, but Sri Lanka finished the Test with a victory, which is eventually what would matter. There were two centuries, a 10-wicket haul and a record number of catches by Indians, but they could not win the Test. This is all that makes this traditional format so interesting where matches turn by just one good session.
Sri Lanka have taken the initial lead in the series. The next Test will be played at Premadasa on August 20. Let us look at some of the important statistics and records of the first test match. READ: Dinesh Chandimal’s battling unbeaten 162 could be a career-defining innings
India playing with three frontline spinners in an away test match: India included Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra in this test in Sri Lanka. The last time India played with three frontline spinners in an away Test was also against Sri Lanka way back in 1997 at Premadasa. In that Test Sri Lanka recorded a total of 952 for 6 — the highest total in history. The Galle Test was all good until the fourth day where Sri Lanka finished with a 63 runs win.
Sri Lanka’s top four aggregated just 32 runs in the first inning: The top four of Sri Lanka batting line up — Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara — aggregated just 32 runs in the first inning on Day One of the test. This is the lowest aggregate by Sri Lanka’s top four against India in the first innings of a Test. In 1993-94 at Motera, they had aggregated 46.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s 6 for 46:
– Ashwin’s figures of 6 for 46 are the best bowling figures by an Indian in Sri Lanka bettering Harbhajan Singh’s 6 for 102 — also at Galle — in 2008. READ: Ravichandran Ashwin continues renaissance with six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in 1st Test at Galle
– These are the best figures by an Indian spinner in the first innings of an away Test, bettering Bhagwat Chandrasekhar’s 6 for 94 against New Zealand at Eden Park in 1976.
– Ashwin has taken a five-wicket haul in his first Test in India, first Test in Bangladesh and in his first Test in Sri Lanka as well.
– This was his 11th five-wicket haul, but only his second outside India. The other was in the last test in Bangladesh.
– Under MS Dhoni, Ashwin has not taken a single overseas five-wicket haul. Both have come under Virat Kohli.
227-run partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli:
– It was only the second overseas double-century partnership for the third wicket shared by an Indian left- and right-handed batsman. The other was 255 between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly against England at Trent Bridge in 1996. There are 14 more double-century partnerships for India for the third wicket overseas, but in all of those both the batsmen were right-handed!
Note: The highest partnership for India between a left-handed and right-handed batsman is 314 between Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir against England at Mohali in 2008-09. READ: India’s batsmen show positive signs, but need to learn how to fire collectively
– It was the highest third-wicket partnership for India against Sri Lanka going past 173 between Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar at Nagpur in 1986-87.
Shikhar Dhawan’s 134:
– This was Dhawan’s fourth test century. All his four centuries have come in different countries. He scored century in his first match in India, first match in New Zealand, first match in Bangladesh and first match in Sri Lanka.
– He scored a century in his last Test innings as well — 173 against Bangladesh at Fatullah. He became only the third Indian opener to score consecutive test centuries in away tests after Sunil Gavaskar (twice) and Rahul Dravid (once). READ: Shikhar Dhawan becomes 3rd Indian opener to score Test centuries in consecutive innings overseas
Virat Kohli’s 103:
– It was Kohli’s 11th Test century and fourth as captain in four Tests.
– He became the third player after Gavaskar and Alastair Cook to score four centuries his first four Tests as captain. Cook scored five centuries in each of his first five Tests as captain.
– It was Kohli’s eighth Test century outside India. READ: Virat Kohli’s lack of daddy hundreds a worry for India
– Out of 11 centuries, eight of his centuries have been of less than 120. The other three are 141, 147 and 169.
India opening the bowling with two spinners:
– In the second innings, Kohli decided to introduce spinners from both the ends to start the inning. It was the 11th occasion of India opening the bowling with two spinners.
– From 1932 (India’s first Test) to 2000, India opened bowling with two spinners only twice but since then they have did it on nine occasions.
Sri Lankan openers both getting out for ducks:
– Both Sri Lankan openers — Karunaratne and Silva — were out for ducks in the second innings. This was the sixth such instance for Sri Lanka in Tests. READ: India’s inability to finish Tests is worrying
– It was the sixth time Indian bowlers dismissed both the opposition openers for ducks in tests.
– It was the first time in the history that both the openers got out for ducks to spinners.
Dinesh Chandimal’s 162*:
– Dinesh Chandimal scored his fourth Test century. The previous three were all against Bangladesh.
– He is the only Sri Lankan wicketkeeper to score two fifties in a Test match (he scored 59 in the first innings). He has done it twice. He had scored 58 and 54 on his test debut as well. READ: Team selection to blame for India’s loss at Galle
– It was the tenth time a wicketkeeper scored two fifties in a Test against India. The last was Matt Prior (71 and 103*) at Lord’s in 2011. Andy Flower is the only one to do more than once against India — he did it four times!
Dinesh Chandimal fastest to 1000 test runs as wicketkeeper: During his inning of 162*, Chandimal also completed 1,000 runs as a wicketkeeper in tests in his 22nd inning. He is the fastest to score 1,000 Test runs as a wicketkeeper beating Sangakkara and AB de Villiers, who did it in 23 innings each. He has also played six Tests as a specialist batsman.
Three or more fifties by wicketkeepers in a test match:
– While Chandimal scored 59 & 162*, Wriddhiman Saha scored 60 and 2. This is the seventh Test where the wicketkeepers have scored three fifties between them in a Test. There are no occasions of them scoring four. READ: India’s defeat against Sri Lanka at Galle and other defeats following big first-innings leads
– The last such occasion was recently in England vs New Zealand at Lord’s this year in May. The wicketkeepers involved were BJ Watling (61* and 59) and Jos Buttler (67). The first such instance also involved India. At Brabourne stadium in 1972-73 Farokh Engineer scored 121 and 66 and Alan Knott 56.
Ajinkya Rahane’s 8 catches in a Test:
– Rahane took three catches in the first innings and five in the second. Eight catches in a Test is the most by any fielder in history. Greg Chappell, Yajurvindra Singh, Hashan Tillakaratne, Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hayden have taken seven each.
– Rahane’s five catches in T test innings is also a joint world record, currently shared by eight others. The last person to do the same was Darren Sammy, against India at Wankhede in 2013-14.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s 10 for 160 in the match:
– Ashwin is the second Indian to take ten wickets in a Test in Sri Lanka. The first was Harbhajan (10 for 153), also at Galle, in 2008.
– It is the 12th time an Indian took 10 or more wickets on losing cause. The last was Harbhajan (11 for 224) against Australia at Chinnaswamy in 2004-05.
– It is only the third 10-wicket haul by an Indian in losing cause in away Tests after Bishan Bedi (10 for 194) at WACA in 1977-78 and Venkatesh Prasad (10 for 153) at Kingsmead in 1996-97.
Rangana Herath’s 7/48:
– The figures by Herath are the best by any left-arm spinner against India in Tests. He just bettered English spinner Hedley Verity’s 7 for 49 at Madras in 1933-34, which stood for about 81 years.
– This was Herath’s 18th five-wicket haul since Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement (July 2010). In this period no one has taken as many five-wicket hauls. The next best is far behind — 11, shared by Ashwin, Stuart Broad and Dale Steyn.
India’s total of 112:
– It is India’s lowest all-out total against Sri Lanka in Tests. The previous lowest was 138 at SSC in 2008.
– The last time India was all out for a total lower than 112 in the fourth innings was 100 against England at Wankhede in 2005-06.
– The last time India was all out for a total lower than 112 in the fourth innings of an away test was 110 at Adelaide in 1999-00.
India’s loss and Sri Lanka’s win:
– This is the first time India lost a test after leading over 100 runs in the first innings. India led by 192. The previous highest lead for India in a lost Test was 80 against Australia at Adelaide Oval in 1991-92.
– This is the highest first innings deficit that Sri Lanka has overcome to win a Test. The previous highest was 112 against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1995-96.
The next Test will be Sangakkara’s last. He has failed to find his name in any of the major statistics and records of this first Test. Let’s wait and see if he can do it in the second test!
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)
