Mitchell Starc has become the 17th Australian to 200 Test wickets after striking after tea on day one of the series opener against Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Starc entered his 50th Test one shy of the milestone and, armed with the pink ball, took the wicket of Suranga Lakmal to join the exclusive club.
The 28-year-old’s strike rate of 51.2 is the second-best of any Australian with 200 or more wickets, behind only his former teammate Mitchell Johnson (51.1).
It was fitting that Sri Lanka was the opponent for Starc’s milestone; the island nation are the side against which he has had the most frequent success, capturing a wicket every 33.6 deliveries, with the scalp of Lakmal his 35th in just his sixth Test.
Starc’s first victim in Test cricket was former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, while he has enjoyed the most success against four batsmen, claiming the wickets of Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne, India’s Murali Vijay, and England pair Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow on six occasions each.
