Australia’s Nathan Lyon completes 350 wickets in Test cricket

Australia’s  Nathan Lyon completed 350 wickets in Test cricket. He managed to achieve the feat during the opening Ashes Test played at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. With this achievement, Nathan Lyon became the fourth Australian bowler to pick up 350 wickets in the five-day format.

Before the start of the Ashes series, Lyon needed 7 wickets to complete the milestone. The off-spinner picked up nine wickets in the opening game of the series to see Australia go 1-0 up in the five-match Test series. Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee are the other three Australian bowlers to achieve the milestone in Test cricket before Nathan Lyon.

The 31-year old was instrumental in helping Australia register a comprehensive 251-run win over England in the opening Ashes Test played at Edgbaston. He bowled close to 40 overs in the first innings and picked up three wickets. In the second innings, he bowled probing line outside the off-stump on the final day to finish with figures of 6 for 49 in 20 overs.

Nathan Lyon dismissed all-rounder Ben Stokes to pick up fourth wicket in the second innings and complete 350 wickets in Test cricket.

Player	Test Matches	Wickets
Shane Warne	145	708
Glenn McGrath	124	563
Dennis Lillee	70	355
Nathan Lyon	87	352
Mitchell Johnson	73	313

Top-five leading wicket-takers for Australia in Test cricket

Nathan Lyon also picked up his 15^th five-for in Test cricket after dismissing bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali in the second innings of the opening Ashes Test played at Edgbaston. The next thing on Lyon’s mind will be to surpass Dennis Lillee’s tally of 355 wickets. There is no doubt that he will break more records due to his consistently good performances for Australia in the five-day format.

Most wickets for a spinner in Test cricket

Player	Country	Test Matches	Wickets
Muttiah Muralitharan	Sri Lanka	133	800
Shane Warne	Australia	145	708
Anil Kumble	India	132	619
Rangana Herath	Sri Lanka	93	433
Harbhajan Singh	India	103	417
Daniel Vettori	New Zealand	113	362
Nathan Lyon	Australia	87	352
Ravichandran Ashwin	India	65	342
Lance Gibbs	West Indies	79	309
Derek Underwood	England	86	297

The selection of Nathan Lyon for the five-day format is truly a remarkable story. He was picked out of nowhere after he joined as ground-staff personnel at the Adelaide Oval. Lyon got his international career off to a perfect start by picking up a wicket off his very first ball.