Jumbo Performances - Top 10 Test bowling performances of Anil Kumble

# 5: 6/72 vs Sri Lanka, Delhi, 2005

Anil Kumble vs Sri Lanka, 2005

On what was not a typical Kotla wicket, India found themselves in big trouble on the second morning of the Test match, with Muttiah Muralitharan spinning a web of magic around its batsmen. India slipped from 254/3 to be all out for 290 in their first innings.

Marvan Attapattu and Mahela Jayawardene put Sri Lanka on top, and seemingly on course for their first Test victory on Indian soil. Sri Lanka were in a dominant position at 175/2 and seemed poised to take a big first innings lead. The pitch lacked bounce and Kumble went wicketless for a big part of the day.

However Kumble as usual didn’t give up and waited for his opportunity, which came with Jayawardene going for a suicidal sweep and missing to be out LBW. Thereafter, Kumble ripped through the Sri Lankan middle order in a ravening display of spin bowling on a flat deck. Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets for 23 runs and slipped from 175/2 to 198/6. They never recovered from this and India went on to win the match comfortably. Kumble picked up his eighth 10-wicket haul in tests.