Herath joins small group

Stats from the fourth day of a spin-dominated first Test in Galle

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan

29-Mar-2012

Rangana Herath dismissed the England openers, Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test, Galle, 3rd day, March 28, 2012

After losing their previous four series, Sri Lanka have finally started a series with a win, beating England by 75 runs. Here are stats highlights from an interesting fourth day in Galle

Sri Lanka's win is their seventh against England and their fifth against them in home Tests. Their last defeat against England at home came at the SSC in the 2001 series. Sri Lanka's win is only their second since Muttiah Muralitharan's retirement and their first at home. England have now gone on to lose four consecutive Tests. This is the first such sequence for them after the 0-5 whitewash in Australia in 2006-07.

Rangana Herath's performance is his best in Tests. His 12-wicket haul makes him only the fifth Sri Lanka bowler to pick up ten wickets in a match. Muralitharan has picked up 22 of the 27 ten-wicket hauls by Sri Lanka bowlers. There have been only seven previous occasions when a spinner has achieved better match-figures in a Test against England. Herath's 12 for 171 is second only to Muralitharan's 13 for 171 among best bowling performances in Galle. Herath's match-figures are also the second best for a left-arm spinner against England, after Vinoo Mankad's 12 for 108 in 1952.

Jonathan Trott became only the fourth England batsman, and the first since Nasser Hussain (in 2001), to score a fourth-innings century in the subcontinent. His century is also the seventh by an England batsman in Sri Lanka. The previous one was scored by Alastair Cook in Galle in 2007. Trott also joins Cook and Marcus Trescothick on the list of 15 England batsmen (17 instances) to score a century in a defeat in the fourth innings.

Galle once again proved to be a result-oriented venue. Six out of the last seven matches there have produced a result. Overall, Galle stands joint-second with Kandy among Sri Lankan grounds with the lowest draw percentage (minimum five matches played) since 2000. England's total of 264 is the highest fourth-innings total in Galle, surpassing the 253 made by Sri Lanka in their loss to Australia last year. It is the fourth-highest fourth-innings total in a defeat in Tests played in Sri Lanka since 2000.

Twenty-eight wickets fell to spinners in the match. This is joint third-highest on the list of most wickets falling to spinners in a game in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka spinners, led by Herath, picked up 18 of the 20 England wickets. There have been only three previous occasions (two in Galle) when Sri Lanka spinners have picked up more wickets (19) in a match.

From a total of 233 for 4, England lost their last six wickets for just 31 runs to be dismissed for 264. Only once before against Sri Lanka (Galle in 2001) have England aggregated fewer runs (22) for the last five wickets. Their lowest aggregate in an innings for the last five wickets in Tests since 2000 is 14, in Mohali in 2001.

Rangana Herath Jonathan Trott Sri Lanka England Sri Lanka vs England Galle International Stadium