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England v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Lord's
500 after following on, and seven fifties in an innings
Cricinfo staff
May 16, 2006
After the first two days at Lord's, no-one gave Sri Lanka a chance of going into the second Test with honours still even, but that was before their batsmen decided to show just what they are capable of. The Sri Lankan second-innings total of 537 for 9 was only the tenth occasion in the history of Test cricket when a team scored more than 500 after following on. Eight of those matches - including this one - ended in draws. The only two instances of decisive results both involved India: in 1967 they scored 510 and lost, while Australia were at the receiving end - quite famously - at Kolkata in 2000-01.
500 after following on
| Team/ Versus |
Score |
Match |
Result |
| England/ South Africa |
551 |
Trent Bridge, 1947 |
Draw |
| Pakistan/ West Indies |
657 for 8 |
Barbados, 1957-58 |
Draw |
| India/ England |
510 |
Headingley, 1967 |
Lost by six wickets |
| England/ Australia |
538 |
The Oval, 1975 |
Draw |
| Pakistan/ Australia |
537 |
Rawalpindi, 1994-95 |
Draw |
| South Africa/ England |
572 for 7 |
Durban, 1999-2000 |
Draw |
| Zimbabwe/ India |
503 for 6 |
Nagpur, 2000-01 |
Draw |
| India/ Australia |
657 for 7 |
Kolkata, 2000-01 |
India won by 171 runs |
| England/ Sri Lanka |
529 for 5 |
Lord's 2002 |
Draw |
| Sri Lanka/ England |
537 for 9 |
Lord's 2006 |
Draw |
What's even more admirable is that Sri Lanka's second-innings display wasn't the result of just a couple of players putting their hands up. While Mahela Jayawardene did show the way with a patient and classy 119, almost everyone else did their bit as well - there were seven fifty-plus scores in the innings, only the third time that this has happened in Test cricket.
Seven fifties in a Test innings
| Team |
Versus |
Match |
Result |
| England |
Australia |
Old Trafford, 1934 |
Draw |
| Pakistan |
India |
Karachi, 2005-06 |
Won by 341 runs |
| Sri Lanka |
England |
Lord's 2006 |
Draw |
Sri Lanka's unexpected resistance meant plenty of work for England's bowlers, who sent down 199 overs in the second innings. More than 25% came from one bowler - their captain, Andrew Flintoff, who bowled 51 overs for his two wickets. It was only the seventh instance, since 1990, of a fast bowler bowling 50 or more overs in an innings. Merv Dillon is the only one to have toiled through more than fifty overs twice.
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