Sri Lanka vs South Africa 2018, 1st Test – Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka once again proved how dangerous a team they can in spin-friendly conditions as South Africa faced the wrath in the first of the 2-match Test series in Galle. The pair of Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath did the most of the damage leaving very little to their skipper Suranga Lakmal and another spinner Lakshan Sandakan to do. In this low scoring game, the home team’s opener Dimuth Karunaratne starred in both the innings with an unbeaten hundred on day one and a crucial fifty in the second innings.

All the major stats and numbers from Sri Lanka’s thumping 278-run win in Galle:

4 – Dimuth Karunaratne became the 4th Sri Lankan to carry the bat through the innings in Test cricket. He is the first Sri Lankan and overall the 3rd player to carry the bat in a Test match in Sri Lanka.

4 – Suranga Lakmal became only the 4th Sri Lankan captain to win their first two matches in Test cricket. Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath are the other three players to win their first two Tests as captain.

6 – South Africa’s 2nd innings was only the 6th instance in Test cricket where both the openers got out stumped in Test cricket. Bangladesh’s first innings against India in the 2015 Fatullah Test was the last and other such instance in the 21st century.

23y 50d – At the age of 23 years and 50 days, Kagiso Rabada became the youngest player to complete 150 wickets in Test cricket. The previous youngest player to complete the milestone was Harbhajan Singh at the age of 23 years and 106 days.

73 – South Africa’s total of 73 in this game is their lowest total in Test cricket since their readmission to the sport. Their previous lowest was 79/10 against India in the 2015 Nagpur Test match.

73 – South Africa’s 73/10 is the 2nd lowest total for any side against Sri Lanka in Test cricket. The lowest score against the Lankans is 62 by South Africa in the 2007 Colombo Test.

This is also the lowest Test total in Galle surpassing Zimbabwe’s 79 recorded against the hosts in 2002.

158* – Karunaratne became only the 3rd Sri Lankan player to score a century in career’s 50th Test. Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the other two Sri Lankans to score hundreds in their 50th Test match.

199 – South Africa’s match aggregate of 199 is the lowest for any side in a Test match against Sri Lanka. The previous lowest was 233 by Bangladesh earlier this year in the Dhaka Test match.

This is also the first time since their readmission that South Africa aggregate less than 200 in a Test. Their previous lowest match aggregate in this period is 264 against India in the 2015 Nagpur and Delhi Test matches.

421 – Dale Steyn equalled Shaun Pollock’s tally of 421 wickets to share the top spot in leading Test wicket-takers list for South Africa. Rangana Herath (423) moved on to No.9 in the all-time wicket-takers list by surpassing both with the three wickets in the 2nd innings.