Yasir Shah’s 7 for 76: Best figures by a visiting bowler in Sri Lanka
Yasir Shah’s 7 for 76: Best figures by a visiting bowler in Sri Lanka
Yasir Shah picked up 7 for 76 in the third innings to set up victory for Pakistan at Galle Test. It was the first time a visiting bowler picked seven wickets in a Test innings against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Bharath Seervi lists the best bowling figures by visitors in Sri Lanka and in other countries.
There have been 13 seven-wicket hauls in Tests in Sri Lanka involving the hosts, 12 of which are by Sri Lankans. Yasir Shah’s 7 for 76 is the first by foreign bowler in Tests against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Shane Warne had picked up 7 for 94 at P Sara Oval, but it was against Pakistan in 2002. Apart from these two, no other visitors has taken more than six wickets in Test innings in Sri Lanka. READ: Yasir Shah hopes to emulate Shane Warne
Yasir went past 6 for 33 by John Emburey at P Sara Oval way back in 1982. Except in Sri Lanka, in all other countries there have been at least one instance of visiting bowler taking eight wickets in an innings against the home side. But in Sri Lanka, this was the first seven-wicket haul! The table below lists the best bowling figures by visiting bowlers against the home team in each country. READ: Keep going Yasir Shah, Cricket needs more people like you
Best figures in a Test innings by visiting bowlers against the home team in each country
| Team | Figures | Bowler | Venue | Date |
| Australia | 9/52 | Richard Hadlee (New Zealand) | Gabba | 08-Nov-1985 |
| Bangladesh | 8/108 | Stuart MacGill (Australia) | Fatullah | 09-Apr-2006 |
| England | 9/65 | Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) | The Oval | 27-Aug-1998 |
| India | 8/64 | Lance Klusener (South Africa) | Eden Gardens | 27-Nov-1996 |
| New Zealand | 8/76 | EAS Prasanna (India) | Auckland | 24-Jan-1976 |
| Pakistan | 8/83 | Ravi Ratnayeke (Sri Lanka) | Sialkot | 27-Oct-1985 |
| South Africa | 9/28 | George Lohmann (England) | Wanderers | 02-Mar-1896 |
| Sri Lanka | 7/76 | Yasir Shah (Pakistan) | Galle | 17-Jun-2015 |
| West Indies | 8/53 | Angus Fraser (England) | Port of Spain | 05-Feb-1998 |
| Zimbabwe | 8/71 | Allan Donald (South Africa) | Harare | 13-Oct-1995 |
– Australia and South Africa are the only countries where two visiting bowlers have picked nine-wicket hauls in Tests. Richard Hadlee (9 for 52) and Sarfraz Nawaz (9 for 86) did it in Australia, while George Lohmann (9 for 28) and Syd Barnes (9 for 103) in South Africa.
– Angus Fraser (8 for 53 and 8 for 75) is the only one who has the top two bowling figures by a visiting bowler in a particular country — against West Indies in West Indies.
– Lance Klusener’s figures were on his Test debut. He neither improved his figures in his career nor was his record surpassed by anyone in India.
Let’s also see the best match figures by visiting bowlers against the home teams in each country.
Best figures in a Test match by visiting bowlers against the home team in each country
| Team | Figures | Bowler | Venue | Date |
| Australia | 15/123 | Richard Hadlee (New Zealand) | Gabba | 08-Nov-1985 |
| Bangladesh | 12/170 | Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) | Chittagong | 26-Oct-2004 |
| England | 16/137 | Bob Massie (Australia) | Lord’s | 22-Jun-1972 |
| India | 13/106 | Ian Botham (England) | Wankhede | 15-Feb-1980 |
| New Zealand | 13/55 | Courtney Walsh (West Indies) | Wellington | 10-Feb-1995 |
| Pakistan | 11/83 | Nick Cook (England) | Karachi | 02-Mar-1984 |
| South Africa | 17/159 | Sydney Barnes (England) | Wanderers | 26-Dec-1913 |
| Sri Lanka | 11/71 | Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) | Kandy | 03-Apr-2006 |
| West Indies | 13/132 | Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) | Port of Spain | 08-Apr-2005 |
| Zimbabwe | 12/126 | Irfan Pathan (India) | Harare | 20-Sep-2005 |
– Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the only teams against which no bowler has taken more than 11 wickets in a Test match in their home venues.
– Hadlee is the only bowler to have the best innings and match figures against a team at their home venue (in Australia). In all the other countries, the best innings and match figures were by different bowlers.
– The best innings figures at a neutral venue are by Saeed Ajmal (7 for 55) at Dubai against England in 2012.
– The best match figures at a neutral venue are by Warne (11 for 88) at P Sara Oval against Pakistan in 2002.
(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 www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)