Nathan Lyon delivered an exceptional performance on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. Lyon took his 20th fifer to help Australia wrap up Sri Lanka's first innings for 212. With his fifer, the veteran off-spinner equalled legendary Shane Warne's record on Asian soil.
This was Lyon's ninth five-wicket haul in Asia. Now, he has the same number of fifers as Warne. This was Lyon’s first fifer at Galle after a long gap of 11 years.
Overall, this is the 34-year-old's 20th five-wicket haul in the format. He has equalled New Zealand's Daniel Vettori and South Africa's Allan Donald's tally of fifers. It places him 22nd on the list of most fifers in Test cricket. Also, he has third-most fifers among active bowlers after England's James Anderson (31) and India's Ravichandran Ashwin (30).
West Indies legend’s record broken
In addition, Lyon broke former West Indies great Andy Roberts’ record as well. This was Lyon's third fifer on first day of a Test in Asian conditions, the most by any visiting bowler. This is a huge achievement for Lyon as no other visiting spinner managed to take a fifer on first day of a Test in Asia more than once.
Chance to storm into top 10
With his dominating display against the Lankans, he went past New Zealand's Richard Hadlee (431 wickets) on the list of highest wicket-takers in the format. In the second innings, we will have a chance to go past Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath (433 wickets) and former Indian skipper Kapil Dev (434 wickets). Currently, he is 12th highest wicket-taker in Tests. He will have a chance to become no.9 as South Africa's Dale Steyn has 439 Test wickets to his name.
Lyon bowled 25 overs and conceded 90 runs for his five-wicket haul. He got the wickets of Dimuth Karunaratne and veteran Angelo Mathews. Later, he ended Niroshan Dickwella’s counter-attack followed by the wickets of Ramesh Mendis and tailender Lasith Embuldeniya.
