HMRKB Herath with his 13 wickets at Col-SSC against Australia has now 73 wickets at Col-SSC and joined the list of bowlers who have captured 70 plus wickets at a Single ground. There are eleven occasions of bowlers accomplishing the feat of capturing 70 plus wickets at a single ground. All such occasions are listed below

No	Player	Team	M	Balls	Runs	W	Ave	5	10	Ground
1	M Muralitharan	Srl	24	8837	3435	166	20.69	14	4	Col-SSC
2	M Muralitharan	Srl	16	5086	1875	117	16.02	11	5	Kandy
3	M Muralitharan	Srl	15	5727	2054	111	18.50	11	4	Galle
4	HMRKB Herath	Srl	15	4487	2006	84	23.88	8	3	Galle
5	HH Streak	Zim	19	4538	1920	83	23.13	3	0	Harare
6	DK Lillee	Aus	14	3833	1798	82	21.92	7	4	Melbourne
7	WPUJC Vaas	Srl	21	4514	2004	80	25.05	4	1	Col-SSC
8	JM Anderson	Eng	19	4746	2191	78	28.08	4	0	Lord’s
9	RJ Hadlee	NZl	14	3679	1635	76	21.51	6	0	Christchurch
10	HMRKB Herath	Srl	12	3979	1857	73	25.43	8	2	Col-SSC
11	SCJ Broad	Eng	17	4026	2090	73	28.63	2	1	Lord’s

HMRKB Herath became the second bowler in the annals of test cricket to have an aggregate of 70 plus wickets on two or more specific grounds – 84 wickets at Galle and 73 wkts at Col-SSC. M Muralitharan is the other bowler to accomplish such a feat – 166 at Col-SSC, 117 wkts at Kandy and 111 wkts at Galle. In fact M Muralitharan is the only bowler to capture 100 plus wickets at three specific grounds

SPD Smith’s 119 went in vain against Sri Lanka at Col-SSC as Sri Lanka won the test by 163 runs. It provides the 81^st occasion of a captain’s century going in vain in the annals of test cricket. It also provides the 19^th occasion of an Australian captain’s century in a losing cause and SPD Smith became the first Australian captain to witness his century going in vain in a test against Sri Lanka. All the nineteen occasions are listed below

No	Player	Runs	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	WL Murdoch	153*	v England	The Oval	06 Sep 1880
2	GHS Trott	143	v England	Lord’s	22 Jun 1896
3	MA Noble	133	v England	Sydney	11 Dec 1903
4	J Ryder	112	v England	Melbourne	29 Dec 1928
5	WM Lawry	135	v England	The Oval	22 Aug 1968
6	WM Lawry	105	v West Indies	Brisbane	06 Dec 1968
7	GS Chappell	112	v England	Manchester	07 Jul 1977
8	GN Yallop	102	v England	Brisbane	01 Dec 1978
9	GN Yallop	121	v England	Sydney	10 Feb 1979
10	AR Border	152*	v New Zealand	Brisbane	08 Nov 1985
11	MA Taylor	129	v England	Birmingham	05 Jun 1997
12	SR Waugh	100	v West Indies	Kingston	13 Mar 1999
13	SR Waugh	199	v West Indies	Bridgetown	26 Mar 1999
14	SR Waugh	110	v India	Kolkata	11 Mar 2001
15	SR Waugh	102	v England	Sydney	02 Jan 2003
16	RT Ponting	101	v South Africa	Melbourne	26 Dec 2008
17	MJ Clarke	151	v South Africa	Cape Town	09 Nov 2011
18	MJ Clarke	130	v India	Chennai	22 Feb 2013
19	SPD Smith	119	v Sri Lanka	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016

SPD Smith’s 119 which went in vain against Sri Lanks at Col-SSC provides the seventh occasion of a captain’s century in a losing cause in a test against Sri Lanka. All the seven such occasions are listed below. MD Crowe {107}, DL Vettori {140} and SPD Smith {119] are the three captains to witness there centuries going in vain against Sri Lanka at Col-SSC

No	Player	Runs	Inns	Team	Oppn	Ground	Start Date
1	MD Crowe	107	3	NZl	Srl	Col-SSC	06 Dec 1992
2	A Flower	129	3	Zim	Srl	Harare	26 Nov 1999
3	Mohd Ashraful	129*	3	Ban	Srl	Col-PSS	03 Jul 2007
4	Mohd Ashraful	101	4	Ban	Srl	Dhaka	26 Dec 2008
5	DL Vettori	140	4	NZl	Srl	Col-SSC	26 Aug 2009
6	V Kohli	103	2	Ind	Srl	Galle	12 Aug 2015
7	SPD Smith	119	2	Aus	Srl	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016

 

HMRKB Herath has a unique record in the annals of test cricket. As a left arm spin bowler he has taken six ten wicket hauls which are listed below. It is interesting to note that all his ten wicket hauls have resulted in Sri Lanka winning the test. The latest ten wicket haul is his 13 for 143 against Australia at Col-SSC. Thus whenever HMRKB Herath has captured a ten wicket haul Sri Lanka has never lost a test. He remains the only left arm spin bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture six ten wicket hauls resulting in his team’s victory. 

No	Overs	M	Runs	W	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	57.0	14	171	12	v England	Galle	26 Mar 2012
2	48.0	8	108	11	v New Zealand	Galle	17 Nov 2012
3	64.3	15	157	12	v Bangladesh	Col-RPS	16 Mar 2013
4	55.2	5	184	14	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	14 Aug 2014
5	55.0	14	147	10	v West Indies	Galle	14 Oct 2015
6	56.2	14	145	13	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016

HMRKB Herath captured 6 for 81 and 7 for 64 in the just concluded Col-SSC test against Australia and Sri Lanka won the test by 163 runs. These two five wicket hauls represent the 16^th and 17^th five wicket hauls for HMRKB Herath in the tests won by Sri Lanka. HMRKB Herath now hold the record for most five wicket hauls by a left arm spin bowler when a team has won the test in the annals of test cricket. All the seventeen occasions are listed below. DL Underwood is the other left arm spin bowler to capture ten five wicket hauls in England’s test wins which is the second best in this category of statistics

No	Overs	M	Runs	W	Inns	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	35.0	5	99	5	3	v Pakistan	Col-PSS	12 Jul 2009
2	48.0	9	139	5	4	v New Zealand	Col-SSC	26 Aug 2009
3	30.3	7	79	5	4	v South Africa	Durban	26 Dec 2011
4	19.0	5	74	6	2	v England	Galle	26 Mar 2012
5	38.0	9	97	6	4	v England	Galle	26 Mar 2012
6	30.0	5	65	5	1	v New Zealand	Galle	17 Nov 2012
7	18.0	3	43	6	3	v New Zealand	Galle	17 Nov 2012
8	28.3	6	68	5	1	v Bangladesh	Col-RPS	16 Mar 2013
9	36.0	9	89	7	3	v Bangladesh	Col-RPS	16 Mar 2013
10	30.2	11	48	6	3	v Pakistan	Galle	06 Aug 2014
11	33.1	3	127	9	2	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	14 Aug 2014
12	22.1	2	57	5	4	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	14 Aug 2014
13	21.0	6	48	7	4	v India	Galle	12 Aug 2015
14	33.0	9	68	6	2	v West Indies	Galle	14 Oct 2015
15	33.3	16	54	5	4	v Australia	Pallekele	26 Jul 2016
16	38.1	11	81	6	2	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016
17	18.1	3	64	7	4	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016

HMRKB Herath created a new world record with his 28 wickets in the just concluded three test series against Australia. His 28 wickets in the series represent the most wickets captured by a left arm spin bowler in a three test series. He went past C Blythe of England who had captured 26 wickets against South Africa in 1907 series in England. C Blythe and HMRKB Herath are the only two bowlers in the annals of test cricket to capture 25 plus wicket in a three test series. HMRKB Herath emulated C Blythe after 109 years of test cricket.

No	Player	Team	Oppn	Series	Venue	M	I	Balls	Runs	W	5	10
1	C Blythe	Eng	SAF	1907	Eng	3	6	603	270	26	3	1
2	HMRKB Herath	Srl	Aus	2016	Srl	3	6	870	357	28	3	1

 

Sri Lanka won the three test match series against Australia Three-Nil to provide the 37^th occasion of a team winning a three test match series three-nil. All such occasions are listed below

No	Team	Mat	Oppn	Series
1	Eng	3	Aus	The Ashes (Aus in Eng), 1886
2	Eng	3	SAF	Eng in SAF Test Series, 1895/96
3	Eng	3	SAF	SAF in Eng Test Series, 1912
4	Eng	3	Win	Win in Eng Test Series, 1928
5	Eng	3	NZl	Eng in NZl Test Series, 1962/63
6	Eng	3	NZl	NZl in Eng Test Series, 1965
7	Eng	3	Ind	Ind in Eng Test Series, 1967
8	Aus	3	Pak	Pak in Aus Test Series, 1972/73
9	Eng	3	Ind	Ind in Eng Test Series, 1974
10	Eng	3	NZl	NZl in Eng Test Series, 1978
11	Aus	3	Eng	Eng in Aus Test Series, 1979/80
12	Pak	3	Aus	Aus in Pak Test Series, 1982/83
13	Pak	3	NZl	NZl in Pak Test Series, 1990/91
14	Ind	3	Eng	Eng in Ind Test Series, 1992/93
15	Ind	3	Srl	Srl in Ind Test Series, 1993/94
16	Aus	3	Srl	Srl in Aus Test Series, 1995/96
17	Pak	3	Win	Win in Pak Test Series, 1997/98
18	Aus	3	Pak	Pak in Aus Test Series, 1999/00
19	Aus	3	Ind	Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Ind in Aus), 1999/00
20	Aus	3	NZl	Trans-Tasman Trophy (Aus in NZl), 1999/00
21	Srl	3	Win	Win in Srl Test Series, 2001/02
22	Aus	3	SAF	SAF in Aus Test Series, 2001/02
23	Srl	3	Zim	Zim in Srl Test Series, 2001/02
24	Aus	3	Pak	Aus Pak Test Series (in Srl/UAE), 2002/03
25	Pak	3	Ban	Ban in Pak Test Series, 2003
26	Aus	3	Srl	Aus in Srl Test Series, 2003/04
27	Eng	3	NZl	NZl in Eng Test Series, 2004
28	Aus	3	Pak	Pak in Aus Test Series, 2004/05
29	Aus	3	Win	The Frank Worrell Trophy (Win in Aus), 2005/06
30	Aus	3	SAF	Aus in SAF Test Series, 2005/06
31	Srl	3	Ban	Ban in Srl Test Series, 2007
32	Aus	3	Pak	Pak in Aus Test Series, 2009/10
33	Pak	3	Eng	Pak Eng Test Series (in UAE), 2011/12
34	Aus	3	Srl	Warne-Muralitharan Trophy (Srl in Aus), 2012/13
35	SAF	3	Pak	Pak in SAF Test Series, 2012/13
36	Ban	3	Zim	Zim in Ban Test Series, 2014/15
37	Srl	3	Aus	Warne-Muralitharan Trophy (Aus in Srl), 2016

Sri Lanka’s three-nil series victory against Australia provides the third occasion of Sri Lanka winning a three test series three-nil. All such occasions are listed below

No	Team	Mat	Oppn	Series
1	Srl	3	Win	Win in Srl Test Series, 2001/02
2	Srl	3	Zim	Zim in Srl Test Series, 2001/02
3	Srl	3	Ban	Ban in Srl Test Series, 2007
4	Srl	3	Aus	Warne-Muralitharan Trophy (Aus in Srl), 2016

Only three teams – England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – has won a three test series three-nil against Australia. England won the three test Ashes series in 1886 and nearly a century later Pakistan was victorious three-nil in 1982-83 and now 33 years later Sri Lanka has handed over a similar defeat to Australia. The relevant details are furnished below’

No	Team	Mat	Oppn	Series
1	Eng	3	Aus	The Ashes (Aus in Eng), 1886
1	Pak	3	Aus	Aus in Pak Test Series, 1982/83
3	Srl	3	Aus	Warne-Muralitharan Trophy (Aus in Srl), 2016

 

HMRKB Herath became the sixth bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture fifty plus wickets as a spinner who shared the new ball. At the end of the just concluded Col-SSC test against Australia his tally of wickets under the captioned category of statistics read 56. Australian captain SPD Smith became his 50^th victim. Other bowlers to capture 50 plus wickets are – H Trumble {93}, R Peel {88}, C Blythe {74}, R Ashwin {09}, GE Palmer {62}. The following table lists the performance of these six bowlers. HMRKB Herath became the first Sri Lankan bowler to accomplish such a feat

No	Player	Team	M	Inns	Balls	Runs	W	BBI	BBM	Ave	5	10
1	H Trumble	Aus	15	25	4291	1512	93	8/65	12/089	16.25	8	3
2	R Peel	Eng	17	31	4361	1520	88	7/31	11/068	17.27	4	1
3	C Blythe	Eng	13	24	3241	1319	74	8/59	15/099	17.82	8	4
4	R Ashwin	Ind	15	19	2543	1216	70	7/66	12/098	17.37	9	3
5	GE Palmer	Aus	11	19	3347	1204	62	7/65	11/165	19.41	5	2
6	HMRKB Herath	Srl	13	16	2296	0952	56	7/48	13/145	17.00	6	2

HMRKB Herath became the third left arm spin bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture 50 plus wickets as a left arm spin bowler who shared the new ball. Other are R Peel {88} and C Blythe {74}

No	Player	Team	M	Inns	Balls	Runs	W	BBI	BBM	Ave	5	10
1	R Peel	Eng	17	31	4361	1520	88	7/31	11/068	17.27	4	1
2	C Blythe	Eng	13	24	3241	1319	74	8/59	15/099	17.82	8	4
3	HMRKB Herath	Srl	13	16	2296	0952	56	7/48	13/145	17.00	6	2

 

HMRKB Herath’s 13 for 145 in the just concluded Col-SSC test against Australia is his sixth ten wicket haul is test. He emulated DL Underwood who has also captured ten wicket haul on six occasions as a left arm spin bowler in the annals of test cricket. The following table lists out the performance of these two left arm spinners

HMRKB HERATH
No	Overs	M	Runs	W	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	57.0	14	171	12	v England	Galle	26 Mar 2012
2	48.0	8	108	11	v New Zealand	Galle	17 Nov 2012
3	64.3	15	157	12	v Bangladesh	Col-RPS	16 Mar 2013
4	55.2	5	184	14	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	14 Aug 2014
5	55.0	14	147	10	v West Indies	Galle	14 Oct 2015
6	56.2	14	145	13	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016
DL UNDERWOOD
No	Overs	M	Runs	W	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	60.3	34	70	11	v New Zealand	Lord’s	24 Jul 1969
2	64.3	27	101	12	v New Zealand	The Oval	21 Aug 1969
3	44.1	14	97	12	v New Zealand	Christchurch	25 Feb 1971
4	52.0	22	82	10	v Australia	Leeds	27 Jul 1972
5	48.5	25	71	13	v Pakistan	Lord’s	08 Aug 1974
6	55.0	8	215	11	v Australia	Adelaide	25 Jan 1975

 

HMRKB Herath’s 6 for 81 in the first innings of the just concluded test against was his 25^th five wicket haul and his second innings effort of 7 for 64 was his 26^th five wicket haul. He has now earned the unique distinction of becoming the only left arm spinner in the annals of test cricket to have 25 or more five wicket hauls. All his 26 such hauls are listed below in the chronological order

No	Overs	M	Runs	W	Pos	Inns	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	35.0	5	99	5	5	3	v Pakistan	Col-PSS	12 Jul 2009
2	46.0	6	157	5	3	3	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	20 Jul 2009
3	48.0	9	139	5	4	4	v New Zealand	Col-SSC	26 Aug 2009
4	33.0	2	121	5	3	1	v India	Kanpur	24 Nov 2009
5	23.0	3	79	5	3	3	v Australia	Galle	31 Aug 2011
6	52.0	11	157	7	4	3	v Australia	Col-SSC	16 Sep 2011
7	30.3	7	79	5	5	4	v South Africa	Durban	26 Dec 2011
8	19.0	5	74	6	3	2	v England	Galle	26 Mar 2012
9	38.0	9	97	6	3	4	v England	Galle	26 Mar 2012
10	53.0	9	133	6	3	2	v England	Col-PSS	03 Apr 2012
11	30.0	5	65	5	4	1	v New Zealand	Galle	17 Nov 2012
12	18.0	3	43	6	3	3	v New Zealand	Galle	17 Nov 2012
13	49.0	10	103	6	4	1	v New Zealand	Col-PSS	25 Nov 2012
14	21.5	2	95	5	6	3	v Australia	Hobart	14 Dec 2012
15	28.3	6	68	5	5	1	v Bangladesh	Col-RPS	16 Mar 2013
16	36.0	9	89	7	3	3	v Bangladesh	Col-RPS	16 Mar 2013
17	38.1	8	125	5	1	2	v Pakistan	Sharjah	16 Jan 2014
18	45.0	30	40	5	1	4	v South Africa	Col-SSC	24 Jul 2014
19	30.2	11	48	6	1	3	v Pakistan	Galle	06 Aug 2014
20	33.1	3	127	9	3	2	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	14 Aug 2014
21	22.1	2	57	5	3	4	v Pakistan	Col-SSC	14 Aug 2014
22	21.0	6	48	7	2	4	v India	Galle	12 Aug 2015
23	33.0	9	68	6	3	2	v West Indies	Galle	14 Oct 2015
24	33.3	16	54	5	2	4	v Australia	Pallekele	26 Jul 2016
25	38.1	11	81	6	3	2	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016
26	18.1	3	64	7	1	4	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016

 

HMRKB Herath of Sri Lanka with his six for 81 in Australia’s first innings in the ongoing Col-SSC test took his tally of wickets against Australia to 59. He now has the record for most wickets by a Sri Lankan bowler against Australia. He went past M Muralitharan’s aggregate of 54 wickets which was the hither to record by a Sri Lankan bowler against Australia. HMRKB Herath and M Muralitharan are the only two Sri Lankan bowlers to have captured 50 plus wickets against Australia. The following table shows the performance of these two bowlers against Australia. M Muralitharan’s one test performance representing ICC Eleven against Australia is excluded. He had returned with match figures of 54.0-8-157-5 in this test

SERIES WISE FIGURES OF HMRKB HERATH AGAINST AUSTRALIA
Series	Mat	Inns	Overs	M	Runs	W	Ave	5	10
1999	2	2	069.3	16	195	6	32.50	0	0
2003/04	1	2	047.2	6	167	4	41.75	0	0
2011	2	4	126.0	22	368	16	23.00	2	0
2012/13	3	5	134.4	16	407	12	33.91	1	0
2016	3	5	126.5	38	293	21	13.95	2	0
Total	13	18	504.2	98	1430	59	24.23	5	0
SERIES WISE FIGURES OF MURALITHARAN AGAINST AUSTRALIA
Series	Mat	Inns	Overs	M	Runs	W	Ave	5	10
1992	2	4	073.1	12	225	4	56.25	0	0
1995/96	2	2	092.0	10	348	3	116.00	0	0
1999	3	4	141.1	24	349	15	23.26	1	0
2003/04	3	6	209.1	37	649	28	23.17	4	1
2007/08	2	3	116.0	09	400	4	100.00	0	0
Total	12	20	631.3	92	1971	54	36.50	5	1

HMRKB Herath’s six for 81 in this test represent his fifth five wicket haul against Australia. He now shares the record for most five wicket hauls by a Sri Lankan bowler against Australia with M Muralitharan. The five wicket hauls by these two bowlers are furnished below. HMRKB Herath and M Muralitharan are the only two Sri Lankan bowlers who have five five wicket hauls against Australia

HMRKB HERATH’S FIVE WICKET HAULS AGAINST AUSTRALIA
No	O	M	Runs	W	Inns	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	23.0	3	79	5	3	v Australia	Galle	31 Aug 2011
2	52.0	11	157	7	3	v Australia	Col-SSC	16 Sep 2011
3	21.5	2	95	5	3	v Australia	Hobart	14 Dec 2012
4	33.3	16	54	5	4	v Australia	Pallekele	26 Jul 2016
5	38.1	11	81	6	2	v Australia	Col-SSC	13 Aug 2016
M MURALITHARAN’S FIVE WICKET HAULS AGAINST AUSTRALIA
No	O	M	Runs	W	Inns	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	38.0	10	71	5	2	v Australia	Galle	22 Sep 1999
2	21.3	5	59	6	1	v Australia	Galle	08 Mar 2004
3	56.0	9	153	5	3	v Australia	Galle	08 Mar 2004
4	50.3	8	173	5	3	v Australia	Kandy	16 Mar 2004
5	37.1	6	123	5	1	v Australia	Col-SSC	24 Mar 2004