A new low for Sri Lanka

Stats highlights from Sri Lanka's remarkable collapse on the final day of the first Test

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan

30-May-2011

Graeme Swann picked up 4 for 16 to bowl Sri Lanka out for 82  •  Getty Images

In an extraordinary finish to a rain-affected game, England pulled off an innings victory when it seemed that a draw was a foregone conclusion. When Sri Lanka started their second innings trailing England by 96 runs, only 51 overs were left in the game. Incredibly, they didn't even survive half that many, losing six wickets for 19 at one stage to slump to an utterly demoralising defeat. The stats highlights from their innings won't make pleasant reading for their fans.

Sri Lanka faced only 24.4 overs in their second innings and were bowled out for 82 to lose by an innings and 14 runs. It is the lowest number of deliveries faced by Sri Lanka in a completed innings in Tests. Their previous lowest was 24.5 overs against Pakistan in 2006, when they were bowled out 73.

The 24.4 overs is also the least number of overs in which England have bowled out any team since they bowled India out for 42 in 17 overs at Lord's in 1974. It's also 14th in the overall list of least deliveries faced by a team which has been bowled out in their second innings.

Sri Lanka's total is their fourth-lowest score in Tests and their ninth score below 100. It is also their second-lowest score against England, after the 81 in Colombo in 2001. Their lowest score in Tests is 71 against Pakistan in 1994.

The innings defeat is Sri Lanka's 28th in Tests, their 22nd overseas, and only their second against England. The previous innings defeat against England came in 2002 when they lost by an innings and 111 runs in Birmingham.

Sri Lanka's innings had four ducks, which is one short of their record. Only twice have they had more in an innings: against India in Chandigarh in 1990 and against New Zealand in Wellington in 2006-07.

This became only the fourth instance of Sri Lanka losing after scoring 400 or more runs in the first innings. The last such instance came against India at Colombo SSC in 2010 when they lost after scoring 425.

For the first time, three English batsmen scored a century in a single innings in a Test against Sri Lanka. Their overall record is four, against Australia at Nottingham in 1938 and against West Indies at Lord's in 2007.

Graeme Swann's 4 for 16 is his best bowling against Sri Lanka in Tests, surpassing his 3 for 78 in the first innings. It is also the sixth-best performance by an English spinner against Sri Lanka.

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