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Lyon has 60 wickets to his name in 15 Test matches played so far against the Sri Lankan men’s cricket team.
Nathan Lyon becomes Australia’s most successful bowler in Tests against Sri Lanka. (Picture Credit: AFP, AP)
Nathan Lyon broke legendary Shane Warne’s record of 59 wickets on Sunday (February 9) to become Australia’s most successful Test bowler against Sri Lanka. The 37-year-old spinner, who has 553 wickets to his name in 136 Tests played so far, picked up his 60th Test wicket against Sri Lanka on Sunday during the morning session of the fourth day’s play of the ongoing second Test at Galle International Stadium.
He dismissed Kusal Mendis (50 runs from 54 balls) on the fourth ball of the 64th over of Sri Lanka’s second innings. The wicketkeeper-batter was caught by Steve Smith.
The ongoing second Test in Galle is Lyon’s 15th red-ball match against Sri Lanka. He has 60 wickets to his name. Warne finished his career with 59 wickets in 13 matches, and Mitchell Starc has 57 wickets to his name in 11 Tests against Sri Lanka.
Most wickets for Australia in Tests against Sri Lanka
- Nathan Lyon – 60
- Shane Warne – 59
- Mitchell Starc – 57
- Glenn McGrath – 37
- Craig McDermott – 27
- Mitchell Johnson – 23
- Michael Kasprowicz – 20
- Peter Siddle – 19
- Jason Gillespie – 17
- Pat Cummins – 16
- Matthew Kuhnemann – 16
- Brett Lee – 16
- Merv Hughes – 16
The overall record of taking most wickets in Sri Lanka-Australia Test matches is held by former Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath. Herath played 11 Test matches against Australia and accounted for the dismissal of 66 batters.
Most wickets in Australia-Sri Lanka Tests
- Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) – 66
- Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 60
- Shane Warne (Australia) – 59
- Mitchell Starc (Australia) – 57
- Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 54
During the second Test against Sri Lanka, Lyon also became the seventh bowler in the world to take at least 550 wickets in Tests. If Lyon manages to take 11 more wickets in the upcoming Test matches for Australia, then he will break Glenn McGrath’s record of 563 wickets and become the second most successful Australian bowler in Test cricket.
The record of taking most wickets in Tests for Australia is held by Warne, who during his playing days accounted for the dismissal of 708 batters in 145 matches.
The four wickets in the second innings of the second Test have also helped Lyon overtake Ravichandran Ashwin in the list of highest wicket-takers in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. In 16 matches played so far in the ongoing WTC cycle, Lyon has picked up 66 wickets, whereas Ashwin finished his career with 63 wickets in 14 matches.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah is the most successful bowler in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. He played 15 matches for the Indian team and accounted for the dismissal of 77 batters. He is followed by Pat Cummins (73) and Mitchell Starc (72).
