Starc's 5 for 44: best Test figures by an Australia seamer in Sri Lanka

5 for 62 The previous best by an Australia seamer in Tests in Sri Lanka - by Ryan Harris at the same venue in Sri Lanka's second innings in 2011. Mitchell Starc's 5 for 44 is now the best and only the second five-for by an Australia seamer in Tests against Sri Lanka. Starc's is also the fourth-best haul by an Australia bowler in Tests in Sri Lanka. Three of the four best efforts by Australia bowlers in Sri Lanka have come in Galle.

1 Number of times a seamer has returned better figures in Tests in Galle than Mitchell Starc's in Sri Lanka's first innings. Dilhara Fernando had taken 5 for 42 in India's first innings in 2001. Starc's returns bettered the previous best by an overseas seamer at this venue - Dale Steyn's 5 for 54 in 2014.

3 Number of Australia left-arm seamers to take 100 or more wickets in Tests before Mitchell Starc, who reached the milestone with the wicket of Kusal Mendis. Mitchell Johnson (313), Alan Davidson (186) and Bruce Reid (113) are the others to do it. Including Starc, only 13 left-arm fast bowlers have taken 100-plus wickets in Tests.

16.27 Starc's bowling average in this series; he has taken 11 wickets at a strike rate of 25.10. In two Tests against Sri Lanka at home in 2013-14, he had taken 10 wickets at 28.70. Starc's numbers in Tests since 2015 have mirrored his excellent form in limited-overs cricket in this period: he has taken 57 wickets at an average of 23.36 and a strike rate of 40.90 in 13 Tests. Before 2015, he had 45 wickets at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 62.90.

262 Runs by Kusal Mendis in two back-to-back Test innings against Australia - the most by any Sri Lanka batsman, beating Kumar Sangakkara's 249 runs. Mendis followed his 176 in the last Test with an 86 in this innings. Sangakkara had made 57 and 192 in the Hobart Test in 2007-08.

20 Fifty-plus scores by Angelo Mathews as Sri Lanka's captain in Tests. Only Mahela Jayawardene (24) and Arjuna Ranatunga (24) have made more such scores while leading Sri Lanka. Overall this was his 32nd fifty-plus scores in Tests. Mathews' last ten innings have fetched only 282 runs at an average of 28.20 with three fifties. He had got out for single-digit scores in five of the other seven innings. He had scored 3936 runs at 50.46 before that.

8.33 Openers' average in this series - the worst in any series with a minimum of ten innings from them. David Warner's 42 in Australia's innings was only the second score of 10 or more from an opener in this series. Joe Burns had made 29 runs in the second innings of the Pallekele Test. The other ten scores by them have all been in single-digits.

1999 The last time before Dimuth Karunaratne a Sri Lanka opener was dismissed on the first ball of a Test. Sanath Jayasuriya had got out on that occasion to Glenn McGrath at the same venue. Click here for a list of batsmen to be dismissed on the first ball of Tests.

2 Number of third-wicket stands for Sri Lanka in Tests against Australia that have added more runs than the one in this Test. Sanath Jayasuirya and Arjuna Ranatunga added 125 in Adelaide in 1996, which is the highest third-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Australia. Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene added 124 in Sri Lanka's first innings in Cairns in 2004, which is the only other higher stand than the one in this Test.