Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has finally achieved the 400-wicket milestone, becoming the 17th bowler to do so in the history of Test cricket. He is only the third Australian bowler, after Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to reach this milestone. The list is of course led by none other than Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan who finished his career with 800 Test wickets.
Lyon achieved the feat on the Day 4 of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. On Saturday, he dismissed Dawid Malan for 82 and ended the long wait for his 400th Test scalp.
Lyon, who had been waiting for his 400th wicket for a while, got the scalp in the 73rd over of the England second innings.
Malan stepped out and looked to defend but was beaten by the turn and the ball took a thick inside edge onto the pad before popping up towards Marnus Labuschagne at the silly mid-off. The latter took an easy catch, leading to a jubilant celebration for Lyon.
The wicket helped break England’s resistance as Malan and captain Joe Root had put on 162 runs together to keep the hosts at bay. Lyon went on to bag a four-wicket haul as the visitors were bowled out for 295, setting an easy target of 20 runs for the hosts.
For Australia, Shane Warne leads the most wicket takers charts with 708 scalps while Glenn McGrath is second with 563. Dennis Lillee (355) and Mitchell Johnson (313) are fourth and fifth on the list.
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