OTD 1987: Kapil Dev took his 300th Test wickets in an innings victory over Sri Lanka

Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev became the first Indian pacer to take 300 Test wickets and ultimately ended his career with 434 wickets. Kapil Dev was just 28-years-old when he achieved the feat during the 1987 Test match against Sri Lanka that was played in January 1987. 

The massive feat came during the third Test match of the series which was played in Cuttack. Kapil Dev’s 300th wicket was Rumesh Ratnayake who saw the stumps being rattled after Dev’s delivery beat him for pace and also did him for lack of bounce. It was a huge moment in the history of Indian cricket as the then skipper was congratulated by all of his teammates. 

Kapil Dev: creates yet another record in legendary career

India took on Sri Lanka in the third and final Test match at the Cuttack stadium. The hosts batter first and scored 400 on the board before being bowled out. Dilip Vengsarkar was the best batter with 166 runs while Kapil Dev scored 60 runs. Vengsarkar scored his runs off 279 balls having batted for 429 minutes with 14 hits to the fence. 

In reply, the Lankans were bowled out for 191 with Kapil Dev taking 4/69 from his 28 overs to move to 299 wickets. His wickets included that of Asoka De Silva for 1 and skipper Duleep Mendis for 9 both batters being bowled. Kapil Dev then dismissed Arjuna Ranatunga for 30 caught plumb in front of the wicket. his final wicket of the innings was Guy De Alwis for a duck caught by Kris Srikkanth. 

Kapil enforced the follow on and Sri Lanka in their second innings scored just 142 and lost by an innings and 67 runs. Kapil Dev picked just a solitary wicket which gave him his 300th scalp in Test cricket. Ravi Shastri picked 4/11 from 11 overs as none of the Lankan batters had any clue to the amazing bowling from the Indians. Duleep Mendis’ 27 was the best score for the visitors in the second inning as rest of the batters failed. 

Indian skipper Kapil Dev was named the player of the match for his 60 with the bat and five wickets in the game. Dilip Vengsarkar was named player of the series for scoring 376 runs. Team India won the Test series 2-0 and also won the five-match ODI series 4-1. 

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