100 for Herath at Galle

GALLE: Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath has become only the third player in the history of test cricket to take a century of wickets at a single ground.

The spinner got his 100th wicket at Galle in his farewell appearance yesterday when he yorked an advancing England captain Joe Root on the opening day of the first test.

Here are the other times this feat has been achieved:

Muttiah Muralitharan (166 wickets) — Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo.

Muralitharan holds the record for the highest number of wickets at a single ground, with 166 at Colombo. The Sri Lankan spinner took those wickets in 24 tests there at an average of 20.69.

James Anderson (100 wickets) Lord’s, London.

Playing against India, Anderson became the first player since Muralitharan to take 100 wickets at a single venue and the first fast bowler to do so. He was on 99 wickets at Lord’s when he got Murali Vijay out for the second time in the match caught behind, giving Anderson his 550th wicket in test cricket.

Muralitharan, 117 wickets, Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy.

Muralitharan is the highest wickettaker in test history and has also got 117 wickets at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. He took those wickets in 16 matches at his home ground, and they included a careerbest innings haul of nine for 51 against Zimbabwe in 2002.

Muralitharan, 111 wickets, Galle International Stadium, Galle. Muralitharan also took 111 wickets at Galle. They came in 15 matches as part of his world record 800 test wickets.