Mathews' versatility stands out in a brilliant Test career

Angelo Mathews, who in 2013 became the youngest to lead Sri Lanka in Tests, will now bow out as their third-highest run-scorer in the format.

Here's a look at one of the finest Test careers in recent times:

Most Test runs for Sri Lanka

Mathews' 118 appearances is the fourth-most for Sri Lanka in Tests, after Mahela Jayawardene (149), Kumar Sangakkara (134) and Muttiah Muralitharan (132).

Mathews' career took off with scores of 95 at Galle and his maiden hundred (105*) at SSC, Colombo during the 2011 home Test series against Australia. He averaged 53.66 between 2011 and 2015, his hundreds in England in 2014 resulting in a famous 1-0 series win for Sri Lanka. Later that season, he scored 91 in the first innings against Pakistan at Galle, and a quickfire 25* off 13 in fading lights in Galle to secure a seven-wicket win. This was after he had started that year with 91 & 157* against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. Overall, he aggregated 1314 runs in 2014, the second-most for Sri Lanka in a calendar year after Sangakkara's 1493 in the same period.

Most Test runs for Sri Lanka in a calendar year

Since 2009, there have been 63 instances of a batter scoring 1000-plus runs in a calendar year, only two have done that at a higher average than Mathews' 87.8 in 2014: Michael Clarke (1595 at 106.33 in 2012) and Kane Williamson (1172 at 90.15 in 2015).

There was a slump between 2016 and 2019, but his two hundreds in that timeframe came in vastly different conditions – on a spin-friendly Delhi track against India in 2017 and a year later in Wellington – both in hard-fought draws.

In that Wellington Test, he added 274* in 108.4 overs with Kusal Mendis for the fourth wicket, bailing Sri Lanka out after they had been reduced to 13/3 in their second innings by stumps on Day 3, having conceded a first innings lead of 296. In Test cricket, only two other pairs have batted more overs together in the third or fourth innings of an away Test: Wally Hammond and Douglas Jardine (147.1 overs) at Adelaide in 1929 and Bill Edrich and Paul Gibb (130.4 overs) in Durban in 1939 (where ball-by-ball data is available).

Mathews' Test career progression

The incredible versatility

The key to Mathews' success in Test cricket has been his brilliance across conditions and parameters. In 66 home Tests, he scored 4323 runs at 45.03 with seven hundreds. His first Test appearance in a SENA country came against South Africa in Centurion in December 2011. Since then, 16 subcontinent batters have aggregated at least 1000 runs in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia combined. Among those, Mathews average of 37.79 is bettered only by Virat Kohli (3781 runs at 41.54).

Mathews in Test cricket (by host countries)

| Host | Mat | Inns | Runs | Ave | 100 | HS |
|—|—|—|—|—|—|
| Asia | 88 | 152 | 5996 | 46.12 | 11 | 199 |
| SENA | 27 | 53 | 1852 | 37.79 | 4 | 160 |
| Other (WI & ZIM) | 3 | 5 | 319 | 79.75 | 1 | 200* |

Mathews found success overseas as well.

©Getty

He has been one of the rare subcontinent batters with success against both pace and spin with a sizeable sample size. Since 2009 (his debut year in Tests), nine players have aggregated 4000-plus runs against both pace and spin. He is one of the six to have averaged 40-plus against both, the other five being Alastair Cook, Steven Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli.

Mathews in Tests (by bowling types)

| Bowling type | Runs | Balls | Dismissals | Ave |
| — | — | — | — |
| pace | 4154 | 8307 | 99 | 41.95 |
| spin | 4013 | 8549 | 81 | 49.54 |

Moreover, Mathews batted at six different batting positions in Tests, never in the top-three, his success largely spread across No. 4, 5 and 6. In a rather unique feat, he is one of the only four batters in Test history to aggregate 2000-plus runs from three different positions, alongside Allan Border (No. 4, 5 and 6 and Joe Root (No.3, 4 and 5 and 6.

Mathews captained Sri Lanka for the first time against Bangladesh in Galle in 2013. At 25y 279d, he became the youngest to lead Sri Lanka in Tests. He captained in 31 straight Tests between March 2013 and August 2016, the second-longest sequence for Sri Lanka after Sanath Jayasuriya (38 between September 1999 and November 2002.

The highlights include the 1-0 win against England in2014, 3-0 clean-sweep against Australia in2016 and 2-0 wins against Pakistan and West Indies in2014 and 2-0.

**Most Test wins as captain Sri Lanka

| Captain | Mat | Won | Lost | Drawn | W/L |
| — | — | — | — |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 18 | 12 | 12 | 8 | Angelo Mathews | 13 | 13 |

Mathews had improved numbers as a batter during his captaincy stint, aggregating 2802 runs at 50.94 |

He is one of the seven batters in history to have a sequence of consecutive innings without a duck, David Gower holds the record at 119, followed by Richardson 96, Sachin Tendulkar 91, Allan Border 89, Alec Stewart86 and Kumar Sangakkara85.

Mathews has hit 89 sixes in Tests, a Sri Lankan record, well clear of the next best Jayawardene, who hit 61.

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