Stats highlights from the third Test between Sri Lanka and India at the SSC where India completed a rare away series win

Shiva Jayaraman01-Sep-20154 Number of Tests Sri Lanka have now lost at home this year, this is the most they have lost at home in a calendar year. The last time they lost more than two home Tests in a calendar year was in 2003-04, when they lost three Tests.1993 Last and the only other time Sri Lanka lost two home series in a calendar year. Sri Lanka had lost two of their four Test series in that year, to India and South Africa. In 2015, they have played two and lost two including the one against Pakistan earlier this year.1988-89 Last and the only time before this India bowlers took all the 60 wickets of the opposition in any three-Test series. On that occasion, India spinners Arshad Ayub and Narendra Hirwani had combined to take 41 wickets in three Tests against New Zealand. Overall, this was only the 11th time that bowlers took all 60 wickets of the opposition wickets to fall in a three-Test series.1 Number of times India had won a Test series in Sri Lanka before this. That win had come in 1993 when they won the three-Test series 1-0. India’s last win in an away series came in 2011 when they beat West Indies 1-0. Between the two wins India had played seven away series and had lost six and drawn one, against Bangladesh.2004 Last time India won two away Tests in a series against oppositions excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. On that occasion India had won the series 2-1 in Pakistan. Overall, this is only the fifth time that India have won two or more Tests in an away series that have not been played in Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.0 Number of times India had come back from 1-0 deficit in an away series to win it before this one. Overall, this was the third time India had come back from such a situation to win in any series. The last such instance had come in 2001, when India lost to Australia in Mumbai before winning their next two Tests at Kolkata and Chennai. The first ever such instance for India came way back in 1972 when India beat England 2-1 in a five-Test series. The last time a team came back from a 1-0 deficit in an away series to win it was in 2012 when England beat India 2-1 after losing the first Test in Ahmedabad.4 Number of Sri Lanka captains to get a fourth-innings hundred including Angelo Mathews in this Test. The last Sri Lanka captain to do this was Kumar Sangakkara – also at the SSC – who got an unbeaten 130 against Pakistan in 2009 to earn a draw. Mahela Jayawardene and Duleep Mendis are the other captains to do this.240 Balls faced Mathews in his innings of 110 – equal the fifth highest in the fourth innings of a Test at the SSC. The last time a batsman batted 200-plus deliveries in the fourth innings at the SSC was in 2006, when Kumar Sangakkara faced 303 deliveries to help Sri Lanka force a draw against Pakistan.3 India fast bowlers to take 200 or more Test wickets before Ishant Sharma who took his 200th wicket when he dismissed Angelo Mathews in Sri Lanka’s second innings. Kapil Dev (434 wickets), Javagal Srinath (236) and Zaheer Khan (311) are the India pacers. Overall, among 65 bowlers to take at least 200 wickets, Ishant is the fifth-slowest bowler in terms of innings bowled in to the milestone having taken 114 innings. Among India bowlers, Zaheer, who took his 200th Test wicket in his 116th innings, is the slowest.1 Number of times before R Ashwin an India spinner had taken 20 or more wickets in an away series from three or fewer matches. Anil Kumble had played three Tests in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2003-04 and had taken 24 wickets at an average of 29.58. Ashwin’s 21 wickets in this series are the most by an India bowler in a Test series between India and Sri Lanka, beating Kumble’s 20 wickets in the 2005-06 home series.37 Number of wickets by India’s spinners – equal the most they have taken in an away Test series with three or fewer matches. Before this, they had taken 37 wickets in a three-match series England in 1971.1985 Last time before this as many as 27 wickets fell to fast bowlers in a Test at the SSC. On that occasion as well, the same two teams were involved. The only time when a Test at the SSC had more wickets taken by fast bowlers than this one was in 1983-84, when the hosts were playing against New Zealand. The 27 wickets taken by fast bowlers in this Test equal the fourth-highest in a Test in Asia since 2000.18.09 Ashwin’s bowling average – the best for an India spinner to take 20 or more wickets in an overseas series. Earapalli Prasanna, also an offspinner, had taken 24 wickets at 18.79 apiece in a four-Test series in New Zealand which was the previous best. Including Ashwin in this one, there are only 12 instances of an India spinner taking at least 20 wickets in an away series.2 Number of wicketkeeper-batsmen to make two fifty-plus scores on debut before Kusal Perera in this Test. The last one to do this was also from Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal got two fifties against South Africa on his debut in Durban in 2011. The first one to do achieve this was India’s Dilawar Hussain against England in Kolkata in 1934. Kusal is also only the second Sri Lanka batsman after Chandimal to get two fifties scores on debut.125 Runs by Kusal in this Test – the fifth highest in a match by a batsman batting at No. 7 on debut. Romesh Kaluwitharana had made 136 on debut against Australia, the highest for Sri Lanka. The highest such score by any batsman was also made against India: Moises Henriques got 149 runs on debut for Australia in Chennai in 2013.135 Runs added by Kusal and Mathews for the sixth wicket – the second-highest partnership in the fourth innings of a Test at the SSC and only the 11th century stand in the fourth innings at this ground.2 Century stands for Sri Lanka’s sixth wicket in the fourth innings of a Test before the one in this match. The last such stand also involved Mathews: in 2011 Mathews and Mahela Jayawardene had added 142 runs in Galle against Australia. The first and the highest such partnership was between Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga against Zimbabwe at the SSC in 1998 when they added 189 runs in an unbroken stand.