On this day in 2007: Muttiah Muralitharan becomes the highest wicket-taker in Tests
Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne fought a battle during the mid-2000s to claim the title of being the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. Muralitharan clinched the top spot in the first quarter of 2004 by going past Courtney Walsh. But his absence from the Test series in Australia gave a chance to Warne for moving on to the top. However, the leg-spinner could only equal the Sri Lankan spinner who eventually took the lead a month later during a home series against South Africa.
But in the next 15 months, Muralitharan featured in only two Test matches due to injury issues. This helped Shane Warne to take a big lead over the off-spinner and the 2005 Ashes series in England helped the cause. At the end of the 2006-07 home Ashes series, Warne announced his retirement from international cricket with 708 Test wickets to his name. The leg-spinner became the first player to pick 700 wickets in the history of Test cricket during the same series.
Muttiah joined the list when he bagged a total of 26 wickets during the home Test series against Bangladesh later in June. The off-spinner was part of the Australian tour with 700 wickets to his name. Needing nine scalps to go past Warne, the Sri Lankan managed to take only four across the three innings he bowled. The historic moment was pushed to the home series against England at the end of 2007.
The historic moment
The first game of the 3-match Test series was hosted by Kandy’s Asgiriya Stadium, the home venue of Muralitharan. Sri Lanka got bowled out for 188 on the very first day despite Kumar Sangakkara scoring 92 alone. Chaminda Vaas picked a wicket in the very first over as the visitors ended the opening day on 49/1. Only 46 overs of play was possible on the second day but Muralitharan picked all four of the five wickets to fall during the day’s play.
The wicket of Ravi Bopara on the second day helped Murali to level on 708 wickets with Warne. England’s score moved to 266/7 and their lead came close to the 100-run mark. At this stage, a traditional off-spin delivery from Muralitharan got the better of Paul Collingwood whose stumps got rattled in this process. The wicket set the Kandy ground into a festival mode as their local boy stationed himself on the wicket-takers chart in the longer format.
England were bowled out for 281 as Murali finished with a 6-wicket haul. The deficit of 93 runs did not matter for Sri Lanka as the hosts posted a huge total of 442/8 thanks to a 152-run knock from Kumar Sangakkara. Lankans set a target of 350 in front of England who were bowled out for only 261 runs as Muralitharan picked three more in the 2nd essay and finished with nine wickets in the game.
