Why you should win the toss and bat first in Galle
The spin of the coin seems to have a particularly big effect on the way Test matches pan out at this venue. Here are the stats to demonstrate it
Bharath Seervi
25-Jul-2017
Sri Lanka have a significantly higher win rate when the toss goes their way • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
17-6 - Sri Lanka's win-loss record in Galle, in 29 Tests. Their win-loss ratio of 2.83 is their second-best at any home venue. Their scoring rate of 3.28 is their best at any home venue.
9 - Number of wins for Sri Lanka in Galle since 2010, in 14 matches - they've lost three and drawn two. At all their other home venues in this period, they have won only seven game in 22 Tests. They have won each of their last four Galle Tests.
| Venue | Mts | Won | Lost | Draw | W/L ratio |
| Galle | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3.00 |
| All other home venues | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 1.00 |
11-1 Sri Lanka's win-loss record in Galle after winning the toss. They have won the toss 16 times and the only defeat came against Pakistan way back in 2000. They have a 6-5 record after losing the toss. They had elected to bat first in 15 of the 16 Tests after winning the toss. After losing the toss, only four times were they asked to bat first and they lost only one of those Tests.
12-3 Win-loss record of teams batting first in last 10 years in Galle, in 18 Tests. In 24 of the 29 Galle Tests teams have elected to bat first and only five of those resulted in a defeat. Incidentally, four of those defeats were for the visiting teams.
3-1 India's win-loss record in Galle. Their only win here was in 2008. They have lost all the three Tests they've lost the toss in; in that solitary win, they had won the toss.
99 The highest successful chase in Galle. Thirteen times a target of more than 100 has been set in Galle and 11 of those chases resulted in defeat.
5 Man-of-the-Match awards for Rangana Herath in Galle, in 16 Tests. In 65 Tests outside Galle, he has only five such awards. He has 93 wickets in Galle, the most at any venue. If he takes seven more wickets here, he will become only the second bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to take over 100 Test wickets at a single venue.
62.45 Dinesh Chandimal's average in Galle. In 14 innings here, he has scored 687 runs with three centuries. Both his top scores have come in Galle - 162 not out against India, and 151 against West Indies. Sri Lanka will miss his services this time around as he is ruled out due to pneumonia.
Bharath Seervi is stats sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.