Winning after 100-plus deficits, and Sangakkara's run-fest in 2014
Stats highlights from the fourth day in Galle, when Sri Lanka made a strong start in their chase of 370
S Rajesh
19-Jul-2014
Kumar Sangakkara has already scored 1018 Test runs in 2014; the next-best is Angelo Mathews, with 693 • AFP
110 - The largest first-innings deficit for Sri Lanka in Tests which they've ended up winning. There've been only two instances of Sri Lanka turning around 100-plus run deficits into wins, and both were in matches when they batted first and got out cheaply: against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1995 they were all out for 223 and conceded a lead of 110, but won by 42 runs, while against England at Headingley last month they were bowled out for 257 and conceded a lead of 108, but won by 100 runs.
58 - The largest first-innings deficit for Sri Lanka in Tests in which they've batted second and won the game. That happened at the SSC in Colombo against West Indies in 2005, when the visitors batted first and scored 285, and then bundled out Sri Lanka for 227. In their second innings, though, West Indies were bowled out for 113, and Sri Lanka chased down 172 losing only four wickets.
1 - Number of times, since their readmission to international cricket, that South Africa have lost a Test match after taking a first-innings lead of more than 100. The only such instance was against Australia in Port Elizabeth in 1997, when South Africa scored 209 and then bowled Australia out for 108, but ultimately lost the Test by two wickets. (This excludes the Test when South Africa forfeited an innings against England in Centurion in 2000.)
300 - The highest fourth-innings total in Galle, by Pakistan in 2012. They lost that Test by 209 runs.
1018 - The number of Test runs for Kumar Sangakkara in 2014, in 13 innings, at an average of 92.54. He is the first to go past 1000 Test runs for the year - the next-best is Angelo Mathews with 693.
87.93 - AB de Villiers' strike rate in South Africa's second innings (51 off 58 balls), which is the third-best among South Africans who've scored 50 or more in a Test innings in Sri Lanka.
68.50 - The average partnership in a Test innings between Sangakkara and Kaushal Silva. In 11 partnerships, they've added 685 runs, with one century and five half-century stands. The last three partnerships (including this one) have yielded 97, 98 and 96 runs.
8 - The number of wickets in the match for Dilruwan Perera, the Sri Lankan offspinner. It's the first instance of eight or more wickets in a match for a Sri Lankan right-arm spinner in almost four years - the last such instance was in August 2010, when Suraj Randiv took 9 for 162 against India in Colombo.
S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo. @rajeshstats