Rangana Herath has been Sri Lanka’s premier wicket taker in Test cricket ever since the retirement of the prolific Muttiah Muralitharan.
The veteran tweaker has been Sri Lanka’s biggest match-winner in home conditions and he showed his class yet again, picking up 6 wickets in the second innings of the second Test against South Africa to bowl the islanders to a 2-0 series win.
Herath, who had picked up only one wicket in the first innings as the duo of Akila Dananjaya and Dilruwan Perera ran through the Proteas, was at his best as he bamboozled the tourists on a turning tack at the SSC in Colombo.
This in fact is the 12th time that Herath has picked up a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a Test match. The Lankan spinner is way ahead of competition as no other bowler has picked up more than 7 five-fors in the fourth innings.
{{/usCountry}}This in fact is the 12th time that Herath has picked up a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a Test match. The Lankan spinner is way ahead of competition as no other bowler has picked up more than 7 five-fors in the fourth innings.
{{/usCountry}}READ | Sri Lanka thrash South Africa in second Test to complete series whitewash
In terms of wickets in the final innings of a Test, Herath, with 115 scalps now, stands only behind Shane Warne, who has 138 wickets to his name.
This was Herath’s 34th five-wicket haul overall in Tests which leaves him in the fifth spot in the list of bowlers with most five-fors in Test cricket.
Anil Kumble (35), Richard Hadlee (36) and Shane Warne (37) are all within reach of the left arm spinner. His compatriot Muttiah Muralitharan holds the Test record for most five wicket hauls with a massive 67 fifers under his belt.