Sri Lanka vs South Africa 2018, 2nd Test – Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka completed their first Test series win over South Africa since 2006 as the spinners once again ran through the visitors’ batting. Dimuth Karunaratne’s twin fifties saw Sri Lanka posting 338 and 275/5 respectively despite Keshav Maharaj’s 12 wickets including a record-breaking 9/129. South Africa were bowled out for just 124 in the first innings but did give a fight in the 2nd essay. Theunis de Bruyn scored his maiden Test century but the visitors were bowled for 290 which is nearly half of their series aggregate.

All the stats and numbers from Sri Lanka’s Test series win over South Africa:

1 – For the first time in his Test career, Dale Steyn went wicketless even after bowling in both innings of a Test. In the 87 Tests Steyn played before this Test, he failed to take a wicket in three Tests where he bowled in only one innings.

2 – Suranga Lakmal’s two overs in the 2nd innings are the only overs bowled by the Sri Lankan pacers in this Test. These are the fewest overs from pacers bowled by the winning team in a Test match. Bangladesh pacers bowled out three overs in the 2016 Dhaka Test match in which they defeated England.

3 – Lakmal won all the three Test matches he has captained thus far making him only the 2nd Sri Lankan captain to win first three Test matches. Rangana Herath also won the first three matches in which he led Sri Lanka.

4 – Dimuth Karunaratne became the 7th player to score 50+ in all the four innings of a 2-match Test series. Kumar Sangakkara scored as many as four fifty-plus scores in two different 2-match series.

9/129 – Keshav Maharaj became only the 2nd left-arm spinner in Test cricket to take a 9-wicket haul. His 9/129 in the first innings are only Rangana Herath’s 9/127 in 2014 against Pakistan also at the SSC Ground in Colombo.

9/129 – Maharaj also became the 2nd South African to take a 9-wicket haul in Test cricket after Hugh Tayfield who took 9/113 in the 1957 Johannesburg Test against England.

12 – Suranga Lakmal is only the 12th captain to a win a Test match without scoring a run, picking up a wicket, taking a catch and affect a stumping. Inzamam-ul-Haq in the 2006 Lahore Test against Windies was the last such captain.

101 – Theunis de Bruyn became only the 2nd South African to score century in the 4th innings of a Test match in Asia. Jonty Rhodes scored an unbeaten 101 against Sri Lanka in the 1993 Moratuwa Test.

283 – The 283 runs conceded by Keshav Maharaj in this Test are the most by a South African in a Test match. Imran Tahir went wicketless in the 2012 Adelaide Test against Australia conceding 260 runs.

290 – South Africa’s total of 290 is their highest 4th innings total in Asia. Their previous highest 4th innings total in Asia was 251/7 in the 1993 Moratuwa Test. The total of 290 is also the highest for South Africa in the last nine Test matches in Asia.