Sri Lanka vs Australia 1st Test: Nathan Lyon equals Shane Warne record with five-wicket haul in Galle

It was a good day for Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon as he claimed 5/90 on the Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle on Wednesday (June 29). Lyon’s five-wicket haul helped the visitors bundle out Dimuth Karunaratne-led side for 212 in the first innings. The latest fifer for Lyon came 11 years after his maiden five-wicket haul at the same venue 11 years back and helped his equal the legendary Shane Warne’s world record.

This was Lyon’s 20th five-wicket haul in Test cricket which places him alongside New Zealand great Daniel Vettori and South Africa legend Allan Donald in the 22nd spot in the all-time list and stands third among active cricketers after James Anderson of England (31) and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (30). Nine of those 20 five-wicket hauls have come on Asian soil, which places him right on top of the charts of visiting spinners in the continent with most five-wicket hauls. He stands alongside Warne, who had nine such figures in 22 appearances in Asia.

Lyon also went past Sir Richard Hadlee in the all-time wicket-taking list to stand 12th in the list with his tally of 432 wickets in 109 Tests. He now stands three wicket away from surpassing Rangana Herath (433) and Kapil Dev (434) and enter the top-10 list.

Lyon on Wednesday said the opening Test in Galle was balanced after his five-wicket haul helped bowl out Sri Lanka for 212 but the hosts made a comeback as they bagged three wickets on day one of the first match of the two-match Test series here at Galle International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. On the very first ball of his spell, Lyon got an excessive amount of turn and bounce from the surface, leaving Sri Lankan batters surprised.

“We always talk of the importance of trying to knock over the tails as quick as we can and you look at the way Dickwella played, he played an incredible inning, he put the pressure right back on us as bowlers. I was really proud the way we came back after tea and stuck to our plans and we were able to get the late rewards and knock them over,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Lyon as saying.

Nathan Lyon claims his 20th five-wicket haul on day one in Galle! #SLvAUS

See Lyon's wickets here: https://t.co/FT3dcx1fsJ pic.twitter.com/gWTgBVkUyo — cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 29, 2022

Lyon broke through instantly after lunch for Australia, dismissing the dangerous batter Karunaratne with David Warner taking a brilliant diving catch. His fellow spinner Mitchell Swepson was on a hat-trick a little later, snaring Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal off consecutive balls.

“(Extra bounce) is one of my biggest weapons, there’s no secret about that. It’s something I’m very excited to see, obviously, spin and bounce is good signs,” he stated. “It’s about me asking different questions by different variations. Whereas in Australia I will probably stick to my strength which is my stock ball and trust in that. When you come over here you have about three or four different variations that you are able to trust and know you`re going to get some assistance off the wickets,” he added.

“Look at my first ball today, that was on the quicker side of things, and you saw how much that turned and bounced. Every bowler is different, but if you are able to go up and down the gears I think that’s only going to help you as a spin bowler in these conditions,” he said.

(with ANI inputs)