Suranga Lakmal is the second most successful fast bowler in terms of the number of wickets for Sri Lanka in Test cricket. In 70 matches that he played, he picked up 171 wickets. He was an asset to the Sri Lankan team for his perseverance in the longest format. Let us revisit some of his best bowling performances for Sri Lanka in Test cricket.
5/47 vs West Indies, 2021
Suranga Lakmal bowled his best spell in his Test career in 2021 against West Indies. It was the first match of the 2-match Test series, and Sri Lanka needed their most experienced bowler to step up in order to set the tone right in the series. Lakmal obliged and bowled brilliantly to trouble the home team. Batting first, Sri Lanka could only score 169 runs. Moreover, the experienced fast bowler intervened with his 5-wicket haul and did not let West Indies take a massive lead in the first innings.
5/54 vs New Zealand, 2018
New Zealand has always been a happy hunting ground for fast bowlers because of the conditions there. Suranga Lakmal also exploited these conditions in 2018 when he took this 5-wicket haul in the second match of the Test series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Courtesy of Lakmal’s contribution, Sri Lanka restricted New Zealand to 178 runs in the first innings, getting a massive edge in the contest. However, the visitors could not build upon this bowling performance and lost the match by 423 runs.
5/63 vs South Africa, 2016
Suranga Lakmal performed impressively against tougher opponents, and here is another major bowling performance against a formidable opposition like South Africa. Sri Lanka toured South Africa in 2016/17 for a 3-match Test series. In the first innings of the first Test at Gqeberha, the experienced Sri Lankan fast bowler did what he did best: preventing the opposition from gaining early momentum in the match. He picked up 5 wickets, which resulted in South Africa being restricted to 286 runs in the first innings.
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