Matthew Kuhnemann shines with seven wickets in Galle Test: Stats
What's the story
Australia defeated Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the second Test in Galle, clinching their first series on Sri Lankan soil in 14 years.
This also marks Australia's first clean sweep of a series in Asia since 2006.
The match was dominated by brilliant performances from Australian spinners Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon, who picked seven wickets each.
Here we decode Kuhnemann's stats.
First innings
Kuhnemann's three-fer in the first innings
Sri Lanka opted to bat first, with Kusal Mendis (85) and Dinesh Chandimal (74) spearheading the attack.
Although they lost wickets at regular intervals, a 65-run partnership between Kusal and Ramesh Mendis took Sri Lanka past the 200-run mark.
The side was eventually bowled out for 257 in their first innings.
Kuhnemann took the key wicket of Chandimal before dismissing tail-enders Nishan Peiris and Lahiru Kumara.
Counterattack
Australia's response: Carey, Smith score centuries
In reply to Sri Lanka's first innings score, Australia was in a spot of bother at 91/3 after losing Travis Head (21), Marnus Labuschagne (4) and Usman Khawaja (36) early.
However, centuries from Alex Carey (156) and Steve Smith (131) took Australia to 414/10.
Their 259-run partnership for the fourth wicket proved to be the difference as they gave their team a 157-run lead.
Final stages
Four-fer in the second innings
In their second innings, Sri Lanka lost early wickets and were reduced to 81/4.
Half-centuries from Angelo Mathews (76) and Kusal Mendis (50) helped the team post 231 runs, taking a lead of 74 runs.
Kuhnemann and Lyon once again emerged as top wicket-takers, dismissing four batters each.
The former took the key wickets of Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Dhananjaya de Silva before sending back tail-ender Prabath Jayasuriya.
Information
Australia's win on Day 4
Kuhnemann's efforts meant the match ended before lunch on the fourth day, with Australia losing just one wicket while chasing a target of 75 runs. As mentioned, Lyon also complimented him well.
Stats
16 wickets in the series for Kuhnemann
Kuhnemann claimed figures worth 4/63 and 3/63 in the game.
He hence finished the recently concluded series with 16 wickets at 17.18, the most for any bowler.
With an incredible overall Test record of 25 wickets in five Tests at an average of 22.20, Kuhnemann is being tipped as Lyon's successor after the latter's retirement post the 2027 Ashes tour.
Kuhnemann, who owns two Test fifers, has raced to 97 First-Class wickets, as per ESPNcricinfo.