Stats Analysis

Sobers - 132, Hammond - 278, Barrington - 324

Stats preview of Kumar Sangakkara's final Test, against India in Colombo

Kumar Sangakkara is assured to finish with a Test batting average north of 57  AFP

57.17 The minimum batting average Kumar Sangakkara could finish with assuming he gets a pair in his final Test. He is assured to be one of only six batsmen to have a career average of 57 or above among the 86 who have scored at least 5000 Test runs. Sangakkara will end up above Garry Sobers in this list if he manages to score at least 132 runs from his final Test. The following table gives the runs Sangakkara has to make in order to go past batsmen within his reach.

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To finish above them Sangakkara needs…
Batsman ave runs @ 0 dis runs @ 1 dis runs @ 2 dis
 Ken Barrington  58.67  206  265  324
 Wally Hammond  58.45  161  219  278
 Garry Sobers  57.78  16  74  132

145 Runs Sangakkara needs from his last match at P Sara Oval to become only the third batsman to score 1000-plus Test runs at four venues. Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis are the two batsmen who have already done this. Sangakkara is the top runs-scorer at P Sara Oval having made 855 runs at an average of 50.29. He has at least 1000 runs at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, in Galle and in Kandy.

2-1 Sri Lanka's win-loss record at P Sara Oval against India from four Tests. Sri Lanka lost the last time these two teams played at this ground. Overall though, the hosts' win-loss record at this venue is 8-5.

7 Times teams batting first have lost here in the last ten Tests. New Zealand, after posting a first-innings total of 412, in 2012 and Sri Lanka, with 457, in 2005 are the only two teams to buck the trend. Overall, teams batting first have lost nine Tests and won five, with four ending in a draw.

16 Times that teams winning the toss have batted first at P Sara Oval in 18 Tests. The odds though seem to favour teams fielding first, with nine of the 14 results going their way. In seven of these nine wins, the losing team had opted to bat at the toss.

19.38 Average runs conceded per dismissal by fast bowlers in the first session of the first day's play at P Sara Oval since 2006. This is the third-best average for seamers in the first session of a Test at any venue during this time. The quicks have taken 26 wickets in eight such sessions here, averaging 3.25 wickets per session, which is the record for any venue that has hosted at least five Tests since 2006.

Best venues for pacers, 1st day, 1st session, Test since 2006
Venue Mats Wkts Conc Ave Wks/session
 P Sara Oval  8  26  504  19.38  3.25
 Edgbaston  7  22  314  14.27  3.14
 Trent Bridge  9  27  597  22.11  3.00
 Newlands  14  37  883  23.86  2.64
 The Wanderers Stadium  9  22  586  26.63  2.44

41.87 Average runs per dismissal conceded by India's spinners at P Sara Oval. Among the three current options, only Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra have bowled here and have figures of 4 for 148 and 4 for 187 respectively. However, in Sri Lanka's second innings in the 2010 Test, India's spinners took 9 wickets for 187 runs and set up the victory. Mishra is the only current India spinner to have played in that Test. He took 3 for 47 in the second innings.

1985 The last time an Indian bowler took a five-for at this venue. Chetan Sharma took 5 for 118 in the first Test between the two teams here. Since then, India's three subsequent Tests at this venue have failed to produce a single five-wicket haul from their bowlers.

3 Five-wicket hauls for Rangana Herath in five Tests at this venue. Herath has taken 25 wickets at an average of 23.56. Only Muttiah Muralitharan has had more success than Herath at this venue. This will be Herath's first Test against India at P Sara Oval.

70.80 Angelo Mathews' batting average in his last three Tests at this venue. He has made 354 runs from six innings, and has scored at least 40 runs in each of them. Overall Mathews has made 431 runs at an average of 53.87 at P Sara Oval.

29.92 Average runs per dismissal by India's Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in Tests since 2014 - the lowest for any team. Excluding Zimbabwe - who have played only four Tests in this period - all other teams average at least three runs more than India's lower middle-order.

1 Fifty partnership by Sri Lanka openers in the last ten Tests at P Sara Oval. Tharanga Paranavitana and Malinda Warnapura had added 60 runs in the second innings against Pakistan in 2009. Sri Lanka's opening stand hasn't done well in the recent times either, averaging 22.36 in 11 innings since their last fifty partnership.

2008 The last time Sangakkara made a century at P Sara Oval, which was against India. Since then, in 11 innings here Sangakkara has made 311 runs at an average of 28.72 including two fifties. In his last three Tests at this venue, he has made 71 runs at an average of 11.83, including three of the 11 ducks of his Test career.

Garry SobersRangana HerathWally HammondKen BarringtonKumar SangakkaraSri LankaIndiaIndia tour of Sri Lanka

Shiva Jayaraman is a senior sub-editor (stats) at ESPNcricinfo.com