Deadly double acts

Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis razed India, taking 19 wickets between them in 87.5 overs during the first Test at the SSC. The duo overshadowed everyone else: Sri Lanka's new-ball attack, Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekera, bowled only 30 overs and took one wicket. India's spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, toiled for 80 overs. Kumble didn't take a wicket, while Harbhajan took only two. This week we look at pairs of bowlers who have taken the most wickets in a Test.

Two bowlers have shared 20 wickets in a match on six occasions. The first pair to do it was Australia's Monty Noble and Hugh Trumble, who took 20 England wickets at the MCG in 1902. Noble had figures of 7 for 17 and 6 for 60 and Trumble complemented him with 3 for 38 and 4 for 49. The second occurrence was also in an Ashes Test, at Edgbaston in 1909, when Colin Blythe and George Hirst took 11 for 102 and 9 for 86 to bowl England to a ten-wicket victory.

To say Jim Laker and Tony Lock shared 20 wickets against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956 is overstating it a bit. Laker took a world-record 19 wickets and Lock picked up the one left over. They had a more equitable distribution against New Zealand at Headingley in 1958 where Lock took 11 for 65 and Laker 8 for 44.

The most recent instance, relatively speaking, of two bowlers taking all 20 was at Lord's in 1972. Bob Massie shattered the record for best figures on debut by taking 16 for 137 against England. Dennis Lillee sent down 49 overs to pick up 4 for 140.

In the same Test that Noble and Trumble took 20 England wickets, Sydney Barnes and Blythe shared 18 Australian wickets between them. Barnes also had extraordinary success against South Africa . He took 83 wickets in seven Tests at an average of 9.85 against them. He and Frank Foster took 11 for 110 and 8 for 70 in the first Test against South Africa at Lord's in 1912, and in the Oval Test , Barnes' 13 for 57 was complemented by Frank Woolley's 6 for 65. On the tour of South Africa in 1913-14, Barnes took 17 for 159 at the Old Wanderers, while Woolley, Wilfred Rhodes and Albert Relf shared the remaining wickets. He and Rhodes took 18 wickets between them at Lord's in Durban with Barnes accounting for 14 and Rhodes four.

Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas have never taken all the wickets in a Test between them but they've shared all ten in an innings on five occasions, which is the most by any pair. They did it first against New Zealand at McLean Park in 1995, then against India at the SSC and West Indies in Galle in 2001, against Zimbabwe in Kandy in 2004, and once again at the SSC against West Indies, in 2005. The Noble-Trumble combination is second, having taken all ten in an innings four times.

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Vaas and Muralitharan are also one among three combinations that has taken all ten wickets in a one-day international. Vaas broke the world record for best figures in ODIs by taking 8 for 19 against Zimbabwe at the SSC in 2001. He had two overs left to try and take all ten when Muralitharan snapped up the last two wickets in his first over.

The first pair to do it was Greg Chappell and Gary Cosier, both of whom took five-fors against England at Edgbaston in 1977. It was only the second time that Cosier was bowling in his ODI career. England were dismissed for 171 but Australia collapsed for 70 in reply. It remains the only occasion where two bowlers have taken exactly five wickets in the same innings. It happened in the 43rd ODI and hasn't happened in 2693 matches since.

The final instance of two bowlers taking ten wickets between them in an innings was at Trent Bridge in 2005, where Paul Collingwood became the second player after Viv Richards to score a hundred and take a five- for in a match. He took 6 for 31 and Chris Tremlett took the other four wickets as England crushed Bangladesh by 168 runs.

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