Most wickets at a venue in Tests
Nathan Lyon took eight wickets from both innings in Australia’s latest Test win against West Indies in Perth to enter the record books. He surpassed Indian spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin in the Test wickets chart with 446 wickets to become the leading wicket-taker spinner in international red-ball cricket among active cricketers.
However, Lyon remains 354 wickets behind Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralitharan in Test cricket. Apart from Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, and James Anderson dominate the record books in Test cricket. So, let’s find out who has taken the most wickets at a specific venue in Tests so far.
111 Wickets – Muthiah Muralitharan at Galle International Stadium
The Sri Lankan spin legend took 800 wickets from just 133 Test at an average of 22.72 and is likely to remain at the top forever. Only four bowlers have taken 100-plus Tests wickets at specific venues and Sri Lankan spin ace has done it at three venues all by himself. He took 111 wickets at Galle International Stadium from just 15 innings at an average of 18.50 with the help of 11 five-wicket spells.
117 Wickets – Muthiah Muralitharan at Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy and James Anderson at Lord’s, London
Muralitharan’s famous 9/51 spell, his best figure in Test cricket, came during the second match of Zimbabwe’s 2002 tour to Sri Lanka. He dominated the spin-friendly pitch at Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy with 117 wickets from 16 Tests at an unbelievable average of 16.02 with the help of 11 five-wicket hauls.
Among the active cricketers, England’s pacer James Anderson, 39, leads the wickets chart in Test cricket. He bowled career-best 7/42 against West Indies to claim his historic 500th Test wicket in 2017 at famous Lord’s in London. Anderson has taken 117 wickets from 27 Tests at Lord’s at an average of 24.58 with seven five-wicket hauls.
166 Wickets – Muthiah Muralitharan at SSC, Colombo
During his remarkable consistency to reach the historic 800-wicket mark in Test cricket, he dominated all three Sri Lankan venues, Colombo, Kandy, and Galle with 100-plus wickets. In one of his famous spells, he took eight wickets against India in the third Test match at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in 2001. Muralitharan took 166 wickets, 82 more than second-highest Rangana Herath, from just 24 Tests matches at SSC Ground in Colombo at an average of 20.69.
