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Murali makes history

Sunday, May 9 2004

Muttiah Muralitharan made history today as he went past Courtney Walsh by taking his 520th Test wicket, while Sri Lanka thrashed Zimbabwe by an innings and 240 runs.


Zimbabwe: 199 all out (T Taibu 40, P Utseya 45, M Muralitharan 45/6) and 102 all out (D N T Zoysa 20/5)

Sri Lanka: 541 all out (M S Atapattu 170, S T Jayasuriya 157)

Sri Lanka won by an innings and 240 runs


Murali became the highest wicket taker in Tests, when he had Mluleki Nkala caught at silly mid-off. He also picked up another wicket the next ball, as Zimbabwe were sent packing at 102, still 240 runs adrift of making Sri Lanka bat again.

This victory, by an innings and 240 runs, is Sri Lanka's biggest margin win in Test cricket. Nuwan Zoysa was the architect of the Zimbabwean collaspe today, as he picked up 20/5, four of which came in his first three overs.

Starting the day at 456/7, the Sri Lankan tail-enders managed to add 85 during the first session, to help their side to a seemingly invincible 342 run lead.

However, the hero of the day, despite picking up only two wickets, was undoubtedly Murali. While reaching the feat, he has also managed to bag records such as the youngest player to reach 400 test wickets, and also the fastest to reach there.

Over a controversial career (because of the questions regarding his action) spanning 12 years, Murali has still managed to stay focussed, and lead Sri Lanka's bowling attack on most occasions.

The 32-year old still has quite a bit of cricket left in him, which puts him in a situation to get the amount of wickets, which would hardly be possible for other bowlers to chase.

Posted by Sudeep