Sri Lanka Tour Of India 2017/18: Statistical Review – 1st Test
Nov 20, 2017 at 6:14 PM
Sri Lanka survived a defeat against India in the rain-marred first Test at Eden Gardens (Kolkata).
Sri Lanka decided to bowl first after winning the toss. India was bundled out for just 172 runs in the first innings while Sri Lanka replied with 294 runs in their first innings. At the end of the first innings, Sri Lanka had the 122-run lead over India.
India replied strongly in the second innings by declaring on 352/8 with setting 231 runs target for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan batting order suffered a collapse at the end of the match. However, they finally managed to secure a draw as their final score was 75/7.
After this first Test, the 3-match Test series is levelled at 0-0.
Brief Scores: India – 172 (Cheteshwar Pujara 52, Wriddhiman Saha 29, Suranga Lakmal 4/26) & 352/8 dec. (Virat Kohli 104*, Shikhar Dhawan 94, Dasun Shanaka 3/73)
Sri Lanka – 294 (Rangana Herath 67, Angelo Matthews 52, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/88) & 75/7 (Niroshan Dickwella 27, Dinesh Chandimal 20, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/8)
Result – Match Drawn
Here are some important statistical highlights of the 1st Test:
- On the very first ball of the match, Indian opening batsman KL Rahul was dismissed for a golden duck. Here are some important stats on this:
i) KL Rahul became the sixth Indian batsman to be dismissed off the first ball of a Test match. The other five Indian batsmen were Sunil Gavaskar (thrice), Sudhir Naik, Woorkeri Raman, Shiv Sunder Das and Wasim Jaffer.
ii) KL Rahul became only the seventh batsman to be dismissed off the first ball of a Test series. The other six were Herbert Sutcliffe (England), Stan Worthington (England), Jimmy Cook (South Africa), Hannan Sarkar (Bangladesh), Wasim Jaffer (India) and Tim McIntosh (New Zealand).
iii) It was only the second time when Sri Lanka has claimed a wicket on the first ball of a Test match. Chris Gayle (West Indies) was the first batsman who was dismissed (by Suranga Lakmal) against Sri Lanka on the first ball of a Test match (Pallekele Test in 2010).
- During India’s first innings, Iskipper Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck. In 2017, it was his fifth duck in international cricket and all of those as an Indian skipper. It is the joint most no. of ducks scored by an Indian skipper in a calendar year. In 1983, former Indian skipper Kapil Dev had also scored five ducks in international cricket.
- During India’s first innings, Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal conceded his first run after 46 balls. Since 2001, it is the most deliveries bowled by a bowler before conceding the first run in an innings. The previous record was conceding the first run after 40 balls by Jerome Taylor (West Indies) against Australia at Jamaica in 2015.
- India was bowled out for just 172 runs in their first innings. It is the second lowest competitive total for India against Sri Lanka in their home Test. The lowest in this list is 167 runs at Chennai in 2005.
- Sri Lankan pacers took total eight wickets (Suranga Lakmal 4/26, Lahiru Gamage 2/59 and Dasun Shanaka 2/36) during India’s first innings. It is the most wickets taken by the Sri Lankan pacers in a Test innings against India on the Indian soil. Previous best was seven wickets during India’s first innings at Nagpur Test in 1997.
- During Sri Lanka’s first innings, Indian pacers claimed all ten wickets (Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/88, Mohammed Shami 4/100 and Umesh Yadav 2/79). It was the only third time when Indian pacers claimed all the ten wickets of a Test innings on the Indian soil. The list is given below:
Occasions when Indian pacers took all the ten wickets of a Test innings on Indian grounds:
Against | Innings no.of the match | Venue | Year |
England | 4 | Mumbai | 1981 |
West Indies | 3 | Ahmedabad | 1983 |
Sri Lanka | 2 | Kolkata | 2017 |
- At the end of first innings of both the teams, Sri Lanka took an important 122 runs lead. It was the third time when Sri Lanka achieved the first innings lead against India on the Indian soil, and Sri Lanka batted second in all of these occasions. Here is that list:
Occasions when Sri Lanka achieved the first innings lead against India on the Indian soil
India’s first innings | Sri Lanka’s first innings | Sri Lanka’s first innings lead | Venue | Year |
426 | 760/7 decl. | 334 | Ahmedabad | 2009 |
172 | 294 | 122 | Kolkata | 2017 |
167 | 168/4* | 1 | Chennai | 2005 |
(*innings uncompleted)
- During India’s second innings, Indian openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan put on a brilliant opening partnership of 166 runs. Here are some important stats of this partnership:
i) It is the fourth highest opening partnership in the second innings for any team on the Indian soil. The top four opening partnership on this list is given below:
Top opening partnerships in the second innings for any team on the Indian soil
Partners’ Names (Team) | Partnership Runs | Opposition | Venue | Date |
Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag (India) | 182 | Australia | Mohali | 2008 |
Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed (England) | 180 | India | Rajkot | 2016 |
Anshuman Gaekwad and Sunil Gavaskar (India) | 176* | Pakistan | Bengaluru | 1983 |
KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan (India) | 166 | Sri Lanka | Kolkata | 2017 |
ii) Also, it is the third highest opening partnership for India against Sri Lanka in the home Test. Here are the top three partnerships on this list:
Top opening Test partnerships for India against Sri Lanka on the Indian soil
Partners’ Names | Partnership Runs | Venue | Year |
Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag | 233 | Kanpur | 2009 |
Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay | 221 | Mumbai (Brabourne Stadium) | 2009 |
KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan | 166 | Kolkata | 2017 |
- Indian skipper Virat Kohli scored a brilliant century during India’s second innings of this Test match. He was unbeaten on 104 runs in that innings. It is the highest knock by an Indian captain in the second innings of a Test match against Sri Lanka. The previous best was 103* which was also made by Virat Kohli at Galle in this year.
10. Indian captain Virat Kohli scored a duck and a century in this Test match. He became the first Indian captain and 20th overall captain to score a century and a duck in the same Test match.
Also, it was the 19th time when an Indian batsman scored a century and a duck in the same Test match.
11. Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled superbly in this Test match as his overall bowling figure in this Test match was 38-13-96-8. It is the second best overall bowling figure in a Test match by an Indian pacer against Sri Lanka. Ishant Sharma is the leading in this list with an overall bowling figure of 34-7-86-8 at Colombo (SSC) in 2015.
12. Indian pacers took total 17 wickets in this Test match. It is the most no. of wickets taken by Indian pacers in a home Test match.
13. Meanwhile, the Indian spinners remained wicket-less in this Test match. It is the first ever incident happened when Indian spinners failed to take at least a wicket in a home Test match (when Indian spinners bowled at least a delivery in a home Test match).