HDRL Thirimanne of Sri Lanka became the fourteenth fieldsman and also the first Sri Lankan fieldsman other than wicket keepers to pouch five catches in a test innings. All such occasions are tabulated below

No	Player	Ct	I	Team	Opp	Ground	Mon/Year
1	VY Richardson	5	3	Aus	SAF	Durban	Feb 1936
2	Yajurvindra Singh	5	2	Ind	Eng	Bengaluru	Jan 1977
3	M Azharuddin	5	1	Ind	Pak	Karachi	Nov 1989
4	K Srikkanth	5	1	Ind	Aus	Perth	Feb 1992
5	SP Fleming	5	1	NZl	Zim	Harare	Sep 1997
6	GC Smith	5	4	SAF	Aus	Perth	Nov 2012
7	DJG Sammy	5	2	Win	Ind	Mumbai	Nov 2013
8	DM Bravo	5	2	Win	Ban	Kingstown	Sep 2014
9	AM Rahane	5	3	Ind	Srl	Galle	Aug 2015
10	J Blackwood	5	3	Win	Srl	Col-PSS	Oct 2015
11	Imrul Kayes	5	2	Ban	NZl	Wellington	Jan 2017
12	SPD Smith	5	1	Aus	SAF	Cape Town	Mar 2018
13	BA Stokes	5	2	Eng	SAF	Cape Town	Jan 2020
14	HDRL Thirimanne	5	2	Srl	Eng	Galle	Jan 2021

He also became the second fieldsman to perform the feat against England after Yajurvindra Singh of India. Yajurvindra Singh had taken five catches against England at Bengaluru in Jan 1977. HDRL Thirimanne emulated the feat of Yajurvindra Singh in taking five catches against England in a test innings after a gap of 44 years.

HDRL Thiriamanne’s feat is unique in the annals of test cricket as he took of five catches of the same bowler L Embuldeniya who returned with figures of 7 for 137 in England’s first innings and the second innings of the test.