Sri Lanka's P Sara woes continue
Stats from the fifth day's play in the second Test at the P Sara Oval
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan
29-Nov-2012
A consistent display of fast bowling set up New Zealand's first win in Sri Lanka in 14 years. Here are highlights from the fifth day's play at the P Sara Oval, a venue where Sri Lanka have lost their last three matches.
- New Zealand's win is their tenth against Sri Lanka and their fourth in Tests in Sri Lanka. Their previous win in Sri Lanka came in 1998 at the R Premadasa stadium. Interestingly, the victory margin was also the same as that of this Test (167 runs). New Zealand's win is also their eighth in Tests in the subcontinent (excluding Bangladesh Tests).
- Sri Lanka have won just one of their last six home series. Four of the series have been drawn and the solitary series loss (1-0) came against Australia. Three of the last four wins for visiting teams have come at the P Sara Oval.
- Sri Lanka's record at the P Sara Oval in Tests since 2000 stands at 6-3. All three of their defeats have come in Tests played since 2010 (India, England and New Zealand). They have not lost more than two matches at any other home venue since 2005. The P Sara Oval is one of only three venues to have produced a result on each occasion in Tests since 2005 (min eight Tests hosted).
- For the first time in a home series since 1999 (against Australia), Sri Lanka failed to score a single century. Overall, it is only the sixth time in home series that they have not managed a single century.
- Tim Southee's 8 for 120 is the third-best match haul for a New Zealand fast bowler in Sri Lanka and the eighth-best match performance by a pace bowler overall in Sri Lanka. Southee's figures are his best match bowling display surpassing the 8 for 132 in Bangalore earlier this year.
- Southee's match performance is the fifth-best at the P Sara Oval while Trent Boult's 7 for 75 is sixth. The New Zealand fast bowlers picked up 17 wickets in the match. It is the third-highest number of wickets picked up by visiting fast bowlers in a Test in Sri Lanka.
- Rangana Herath's series haul of 20 wickets is joint-third on the list of bowlers with the most wickets in a two-match series. Among Sri Lankan bowlers, only Muttiah Muralitharan (22 wickets) has picked up more wickets in a two-match series.
- Thilan Samaraweera was run out for the 11th time in his career. Only four other batsmen have been dismissed run out more often than Samaraweera.
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan is a sub-editor (stats) at ESPNcricinfo