India in Sri Lanka: Ashwin, Binny, Mishra dominate stats but this time for batting

Statistical highlights on the fourth day of the third and final cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka today. - For the first time for India and the ninth time in Tests, number five, six, seven, eight and nine have scored at least 30 runs in the same Test innings. - Rohit Sharma’s fourth fifty in Tests is his second vs Sri Lanka - all away from home. - India lost three wickets for seven runs while the fourth wicket (57) and fifth wicket (54) partnerships have produced fifty-plus runs. It happened for the first time since 1953 for India when they lost 10 for three and putting on 135 for the fourth and 64 for the fifth in the second innings - vs West Indies at Port of Spain in February 1953. [caption id=“attachment_1217581” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  R Ashwin scored his third fifty away from home. BCCI[/caption] - Amit Mishra (59+39) has managed 98 runs in the Test - his second best batting performance in a Test match next only to the 127 (43 + 84) vs England at The Oval in 2011. - Ravichandran Ashwin (58) has registered his highest score vs Sri Lanka, surpassing the 19 vs Sri Lanka at Colombo (PSS)in the last Test. - Ashwin’s first fifty vs Sri Lanka is his fifth in Tests. Ashwin’s aforesaid innings is his third fifty away from home - his highest being 62 vs Australia at Sydney in January 2012. - Nine times, an Indian number nine batsman has top-scored in a Test innings of 250 or more. The last instance for India being Zaheer Khan’s 57 not out in a total of 360 vs Australia at Bangalore in October 2008. - For the second time in a Test match, two fifties have been recorded for India by number nine batsmen. - 16 single-digit scores have been recorded in the series by openers - the most in a Test series of three or less. The previous highest was 14 in the India-Australia series in 1999-2000. - The highest opening partnership in the present series has been just 15 between Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva in the first innings of the Galle Test while the highest for India was 14 between Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul in the Galle Test. - The 15-run stand is the lowest opening partnership for any three-Test series in Test annals while the average opening partnership (5.91)in the series is also the lowest in any Test series (minimum ten innings). - Virat Kohli is averaging 21.80 in the third match innings as compared to his average of 27.72 in the first match innings; 72.16 in the second and 60.81 in the fourth. For the first time in eight third match innings in succession, he has crossed 20. - Dhammika Prasad (8/169) has registered his best bowling performance in a Test match, eclipsing the 7 for 135 vs Pakistan at Colombo (PSS) in June 2015. - Prasad’s figures are the second best by a Sri Lankan pacer vs India at Colombo (SSC) behind Rumesh Ratnayake (8/149 in 1985). - Prasad has captured 32 wickets (ave.27.65) in five Tests this year - his best performance in a calendar year. Only four bowlers have captured more wickets this year in Tests than Prasad - Stuart Broad (44), Yasir Shah (34), James Anderson (33) and Mitchell Starc (33). - Prasad, with 15 wickets at an average of 23.60, has produced his best bowling performance in a Test series, bettering the 14 (ave.27.07) in a three-Test series vs Pakistan in 2015. - Stuart Binny (49) has recorded his highest score vs Sri Lanka in Tests - his second highest behind the 78 vs England at Nottingham in July 2014. - Naman Ojha (35) has posted his highest Test score, surpassing the 21 in the first innings. PTI