Herath spins a new record
SRI Lank a’s Rangana Herath yesterday became the most successful left-arm spinner in Test cricket, claiming 6/59 to bowl his team to an emphatic 259-run victory against Bangladesh in the first Test at the Galle International Stadium.
Leading the side in the absence of injured regular skipper Angelo Mathews, Herath mowed down the Bangladesh middle and lower order as the tourists, chasing a mammoth 457run victory target, collapsed for 197 an hour after the lunch break.
Bangladesh lost opener Soumya Sarkar to the second delivery of the day, bowled by Asela Gunaratne, and thereafter the tourists kept losing wickets regularly.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim (34) joined forces with Liton Das (35) to hold off Sri Lanka’s victory charge for 19-odd overs before the wheels came off.
Herath struck twice in the 27th over, dismissing Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah in the space of three balls to equal New Zealander Daniel Vettori’s 362 Test wicket mark.
Herath, who turns 39 on March 19, dismissed Liton to enter the record books and went on to complete a ninewicket match haul which took his tally to 366 in 79 matches.
Pat Cummins is in sight of a long-awaited second Test after being rushed into the Australia squad to replace injured pace spearhead Mitchell Starc for the remainder of the series in India.
Cummins has not played a Test since his stunning seven-wicket debut against South Africa as an 18-yearold in 2011, but he made a successful return to first class cricket for the first time in six years this week with a Man of the Match performance for New South Wales in the domestic Sheffield Shield.
Jackson Bird is the back-up paceman in the touring squad, but 23-yearold Cummins is likely to be selected for the third Test, with the tense fourmatch series poised at 1-1.
“In selecting Pat, we were looking for a strike bowling replacement option (for Starc),” selector Trevor Hohns said. “He has impressed in his return to cricket this summer.
Long touted as a future leader of the pace attack, the Sydney-born right-armer was the youngest Australian cricketer to earn a national contract in 2011-12 but has been beset by injuries since his brilliant Test debut at the Wanderers.
Selectors have been loath to risk the tall seamer in long-form cricket, easing him back through the shorter formats until his return for last week.
He underlined his huge potential with an eight-wicket haul to fire the state side to a comfortable home win over South Australia.
His return to red-ball cricket was seen as confirmation of his
availability for the Ashes series against England in the coming home summer.
However, Starc’s series-ending stress fracture changed the landscape and Steve Smith’s side is desperate to rebound in the third Test, after their fourth innings collapse in Bangalore squared the series. – Reuters