Muralitharan picks up 800th Test wicket

Muttiah Muralitharan on Thursday became the first bowler in the history of Test cricket to pick up 800 wickets. He achieved the milestone when he picked up the wicket of Pragyan Ojha on the last day of the Test match against India at Galle.




Murali had earlier trapped Harbhajan Singh in front of the wicket to pick up his 799th Test wicket. But had to wait for a long time to get the prized scalp.


The legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was ready for one last hurrah in Test matches as he announced his retirement plans post the 1st Test match against India at Galle.


Murali needed 8 more wickets to complete a career tally of 800 wickets and sign off in style. Although it seemed initially that the rain gods will not allow Murali to have a last laugh, but the Lankan off-spinner did get a chance to test the Indians on Day 3 and Day 4 and produced a fine spell to dismiss some of the stalwarts in the line-up.


Starting with the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, Murali removed Dhoni and Yuvraj too to finish with a tally 5/63 in the first innings.


And just when it looked like Lasith Malinga will deny him a chance to reach the mark, Murali dug deep into his reserves to get the three wickets and complete his tally to everyone's delight in the 'Emerald Island'.
http://cricket.ndtv.com/storypage.aspx?id=SPOEN20100147386