Review of Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe Tests-2

Hope that you have read Part 1

Continuing with individual performances:

Fielding:

Most dismissals (8 and above):

A Flower has the most dismissals and catches by a keeper. Dickwella has the most stumpings and M Jayawardene the most catches by a non-keeper. Dickwella also has the most dismissals among current players.

Most innings dismissals (4 and above):

No good performances from the current series.

Most match dismissals (5 and above):

Dickwella had 5 dismissals in the current series. The long-forgotten WR James holds the records for innings as well as match dismissals.

All-round overall performance (see criteria in table):

Jayasuriya and Vaas have the best performances here. Nothing from recent years.

All-round match performances (Fifty and 5wi):

The only such performance was by Sikandar Raza in this series.

 

Review of Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe Tests-1

Sri Lanka won the series 1-0 with 1 draw. Zimbabwe put on a somewhat stronger challenge than expected, almost drawing  the first Test and putting Sri Lanka under some pressure in the second.

Summary of matches between these teams:

Zimbabwe is yet to win a Test in this series. They have lost all 8 Tests which they played in Sri Lanka.

This series was not part of the World Test Championship. Zimbabwe is not part of the championship in this cycle. Perhaps they will be in the top 9 and qualify for the next cycle.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (250 and above):

Atapattu leads by a large margin. He has the most centuries (5). A Flower has the most 50+ scores (7), including 2 centuries.

Karunaratne and CR Ervine have the most runs among current players.

Highest innings (125 and above):

Note Atapattu’s 3 double centuries. The highest score in this series was 200* by AD Mathews. No one else crossed 125.

Highest strike rate (Min 1000 balls faced, all cases):

Jayasuriya predictably leads here, while Atapattu also has a strike rate considerably higher than that of the others.

Now for

Bowling:

Most wickets (10 and above):

Muralitharan and Vaas have done much better than others. Murali and Herath both have 2 ten-fors, while Murali also has the most five-fors (6).

Lakmal and Kumara have the most wickets among current players.

Best innings bowling (includes all instances of 5wi and above):

While Muralitharan and Herath are at the top of this list, Sikandar Raza’s 7-113 was the best for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka. The previous best was 5-106 by PA Strang back in 1996. The previous best for Zimbabwe at home was 4-50 by CT Mumba in 2016.

Embuldeniya is the only other bowler with a five-for in the current series.

Best match bowling (includes all instances of 8wm and above):

Muralitharan and Herath again. However, Sikandar Raza’s 8-176 is the best for Zimbabwe at home. AG Cremer’s 9-275 at Colombo (RPS) in 2017 remains the best for Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka.

Best bowling average (Min 2000 balls, all instances):

Muralitharan expectedly heads this list as well. Herath did not bowl enough.

To be continued: