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Statistical Highlights 1st Test: Sri Lanka v Australia at Kandy from 9-11 September, 1999.

Mohandas Menon

• It was the 1459th Test match.

• It was Sri Lanka's 91st and Australia's 594th Test match

• It was the 11th match between the two sides.

• The venue was hosting its 8th Test match. Australia was playing its second match at this venue. In fact Australia was the first visiting team to play at this venue in April, 1983.

• Indian S Venkataraghavan was umpiring in his 32nd Test match, while Sri Lankan Peter Manuel was officiating in his 4th match.

• Sanath Jayasuriya was appearing in his first Test as captain. He becomes the 8th Sri Lankan to do so.

• Both Michael Slater and Glenn McGrath were appearing in their 50th Test match. They now become the 33rd & 34th Australians and the 152nd and 153rd players in Test history to do so.

• Mark Waugh was appearing in his 70th consecutive Test match since the first Ashes Test against England at Manchester in 1993. Among Australians only Allan Border (153) and Ian Chappell (71) have appeared in more consecutive Test matches than Mark Waugh. Waugh among contemporary players has appeared in maximum consecutive Tests. India's Mohammad Azharuddin (69) and Sachin Tendulkar (68) are just behind Waugh.

• The 107 run partnership between Ricky Ponting and Jason Gillespie was Australia's best for the 8th wicket against Sri Lanka. It obliterates by a long way the previous best of 56 between Greg Matthews and Craig McDermott at Colombo (SSC) in 1992-93.

• The above partnership was also the highest by any team against Sri Lanka for the 8th wicket. The previous best was the 84 between Zimbabweans Dave Houghton and John Rennie at Bulawayo in 1994-95.

• It was also the highest partnership for the eight wicket in any Tests in Sri Lanka. The previous best was the 79 runs between South Africans Richard Snell and Pat Symcox at Colombo (SSC) in 1993-94. Just for the record, the previous highest for the 8th wicket at Kandy was just 42 between Sri Lankans Arjuna Rantunga and Rumesh Ratnayake against New Zealand in 1983-84.

• Incidentally, Gillespie's 41 while batting at number nine was the highest by an Australian against Sri Lanka at that position. The previous best was 40 by McDermott at Colombo (SSC) in 1992-93.

• Ponting (96) was dismissed for the second occasion in the nineties. He becomes the first Australian to do against Sri Lanka on two seperate occasions. He was dismissed for an identical score at Perth in 1995-96, which incidentally was his debut Test.

• During his first innings knock of 78 Aravinda deSilva became the highest run-getter for Sri Lanka against Australia in Tests by surpassing Arjuna Ranatuga. At the end of the match, they have 720 and 662 runs respectively.

• Shane Warne's 5-52 in the first innings was the best figures by an Australian on Sri Lankan soil. It betters the previous best performance of 5-66 by Tom Hogan also at Kandy in 1982-83.

• In Australia's second innings, Mark Waugh recorded his fifth "duck" in six innings on Sri Lankan soil. His scores in Sri Lanka from October, 1992 reads as 5 & 56; 0 & 0; 0 & 0; 6 & 0 - a total of 67 runs (avg 8.38) in four matches and eight innings!

• Ricky Ponting (96 and 51) who top-scored in each innings for Australia, now has the highest run aggregate (147) than any other visiting batsman at this venue. He bettered fellow Australian David Hookes who had an aggregate of 143 runs.

• The seven wickets for 110 runs by Colin Miller was the best match figures by an Australian in Sri Lanka. It betters the previous best of 7-166 by Bruce Yardley also at this venue in April, 1983.

• During his unbeaten knock of 31 in the second innings, Arvinda deSilva reached an aggregate of 4000 runs while batting at number four for Sri Lanka in 96 innings. He becomes the seventh batsman in Test history to reach this milestone while batting at this position. Just for the record the others are: Pakistani Javed Miandad (6925 runs), Indian GR Viswanath (5081), Australian Mark Waugh (4963), New Zealander Martin Crowe (4841), Australian Greg Chappell (4316) and Englishman Dennis Compton (4234). Aravinda now has 4024 runs.

• Australia's 140 (with two batsmen absent) was its lowest against Sri Lanka surpassing the 188 which it made in the first innings. Australia's previous lowest against Sri Lanka before this Test was the 224 at Hobart in December, 1989.

• The last occasion Australia were dismissed for a low score with two batsmen absent was during the famous Oval Test of 1938 when it was dismissed by England for just 123 with both Don Bradman and Jack Fingleton - absent hurt.

• For the first time in 15 Test victories, Sri Lanka was winning a Test in three days.

• It was Sri Lanka's first win over Australia in Tests. Sri Lanka has now won Test matches against India (1 win), Pakistan (3), New Zealand (4), England (2), Zimbabwe (4) and now Australia (1). South Africa and West Indies are now the only teams it still need to post a Test victory.

• It was the ninth successive "result-oriented" Test match involving Australia, since the drawn encounter in the first Ashes Test match at Brisbane in November last year. During this period Australia has won five and lost four.

• Jayasuriya who was Sri Lanka's eighth Test captain became the only third after Duleep Mendis (2 wins) and Arjuna Ranatunga (12 wins) to win a Test as captain. By doing so in his very first Test, Jayasuriya achieved a feat which no other Sri Lankan captain have done before. Mendis achieved his first win in his 8th Test, while Ranatunga did so in his 11th match as captain.

• It was Sri Lanka second successive win at this venue. In January 1998 it had beaten Zimbabwe by 8 wickets. Sri Lanka has incidentally won only two Tests out of the eight Tests played here.