Australia spinner Nathan Lyon on Saturday achieved a rare Test cricket feat. In the 1st Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, Lyon dismissed Dinesh Chandimal twice in the same session on Day 4. At 10:13 AM local time, Lyon trapped Chandimal LBW, and after Australia enforced the follow-on, he got the better of him again at 12:03 PM. Responding to Australia’s 654/6 declared, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 165 with Chandimal (72) top-scoring for the hosts. Australia eventually won the game by an innings and 242 runs.
Lyon is only the sixth bowler to dismiss a batter twice in the same session. Before him, Alec Bedser (Wazir Mohammad, 1954), Keith Boyce (Alan Knott, 1973), Irfan Pathan (Mohammad Rafique, 2006), Graeme Swann (Salman Butt, 2010) and Prabath Jayasuriya (Lorcan Tucker, 2023) had achieved the feat as well.
Lyon also became the highest overseas wicket-taker on Sri Lankan soil, surpassing India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 38 wickets in the Island nation.
Top 5 highest wicket-takers in Sri Lanka (overseas)
Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 42*
Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 38
Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan) – 38
Shane Warne (Australia) – 37
Yasir Shah (Pakistan) – 33
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka suffered its heaviest ever defeat in Tests while losing the first Galle Test. Following on Day 4, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 247. On the other hand, for Australia, it was their fourth biggest Test win.
Sri Lanka’s heaviest defeat prior to this loss came in Nagpur in 2017, when they were hammered by an innings and 239 runs by India. Australia declared on 654-6 late on the second day after opener Usman Khawaja’s career-best 232.
Australia now lead 1-0 in the two-match series. Galle will also host the second and final match of the series next week before a two-match ODI series in Colombo.
(With AFP Inputs)
