GALLE, SRI LANKA // - Muttiah Muralitharan ended a glorious Test career by becoming the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets as Sri Lanka trounced India by 10 wickets in the first Test. Muralitharan needed eight wickets in his final Test to reach 800. After five in the first innings he claimed three in the second to finish with match figures 8-191. Chasing 95 runs to win, the hosts reached the target in just 14 overs with Tillakaratne Dilshan unbeaten on 68 with Tharanga Paranavitana on 23. Earlier in the second session, Muralitharan had tailender Pragyan Ojha caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene to record 800 wickets and end India's second innings on 338. Sri Lanka declared its first innings on 520 for eight and shot India out for 276 in its first, forcing a follow on. Seamer Lasith Malinga ripped India's batting lineup apart with five wickets but the visitors avoided the embarrassment of an innings defeat. India resumed the final day on 181 for five still hoping that its last recognised batting pair would rescue them from defeat but Malinga struck early with just five runs added to the overnight total, bowling Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with a yorker. Muralitharan then trapped Harbhajan Singh lbw to record his 799th wicket. As Sri Lanka focused on Muralitharan's record, India's tailenders and VVS Laxman ate up some valuable time and added crucial runs. Laxman who looked solid against an aggressive bowling attack could only be dismissed run out for 69 after lunch. He faced 127 balls and hit five boundaries. Malinga's figures of 5-48 represented his third five-wicket haul in Tests. Muralitharan notched his 67th five-wicket haul to dismiss India at 276 in its first innings in reply to Sri Lanka's 520-8 declared. Paranavitana top scored for Sri Lanka in its first innings with 110 runs while captain Kumar Sangakkara made 103. Tailenders Rangana Herath and Malinga also made half-centuries. Following on, India was showing signs of a serious fightback yesterday while Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were sharing a solid 119-run partnership for the third wicket under pressure. Then Malinga, playing his first Test in more than two years, dismissed both batsmen in the span of six balls. Tendulkar's 84 came off 142 balls, including 11 fours and a six. Trapped lbw by a quick yorker from Malinga, Tendulkar fell 16 runs shy of a century in five successive Tests this year. *AP
At lunch on the fifth day of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India at Galle International Stadium. Sri Lanka 1st Innings (overnight 256-2) Tharanga Paranavitana c Dhoni b Sharma 111 Tillakaratne Dilshan c Dhoni b Mithun 25 Kumar Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Sehwag 103 Mahela Jayawardene lbw b Sharma 48 Thilan Samaraweera lbw b Mithun 0 Angelo Mathews c Laxman b Sharma 41 Prasanna Jayawardene lbw b Mithun 27 Rangana Herath not out 80 Lasith Malinga c Harbhajan b Mithun 64 Muttiah Muralitharan not out 5 Extras: (1b, 10lb, 5nb) 16 TOTAL: (for 8 wickets declared) 520 Overs: 124. Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-236, 3-259, 4-260, 5-322, 6-344, 7-393, 8-508. Did not bat: Chanaka Welegedara. Bowling: Ishant Sharma 28-5-145-3 (5nb), Abhimanyu Mithun 28-3-105-4 , Harbhajan Singh 30-4-98-0, Pragyan Ojha 28-1-115-0, Virender Sehwag 10-0-46-1. India 1st Innings 276 (Virender Sehwag 109, Yuvraj Singh 52, M. Muralitharan 5-63) India 2nd innings (181-5 overnight) Gautam Gambhir c P. Jayawardene b Malinga 0 Virender Sehwag c M. Jayawardene b Welagedara 31 Rahul Dravid c Sangakkara b Malinga 44 Sachin Tendulkar b Malinga 84 VVS Laxman run out 69 Yuvraj Singh c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni b Malinga 4 Harbhajan Singh lbw b Muralitharan 8 Abhimanyu Mithun lbw b Malinga 25 Ishant Sharma not out 31 Pragyan Ojha c M Jayawardene b Muralitharan 13 Extras: (5b, 9lb, 8nb, 2w) 24. TOTAL: (all out) 338. Overs: 115.4. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-42, 3-161, 4-172, 5-181, 6-186, 7-197, 8-246, 9-314, 10-338. Bowling: Lasith Malinga 17-2-50-5 (2nb), Chanaka Welegedara 10-2-43-1 (3nb, 1w), Rangana Herath 27-3-60-0 (2nb), Anjelo Mathews 7-3-13-0 (1w), Muttiah Muralitharan 44.4-7-128-3 (1nb), Tillakaratne Dilshan 10-1-30-0. Sri Lanka 2nd Innings Tharanga Paranavitana not out 23 Tillakaratne Dilshan not out 68 Extras: (4nb, 1w) 5. TOTAL: (without loss) 96. Toss: Sri Lanka Umpires: Daryl Harper, Australia and Rod Tucker, Australia TV umpire: Tyron Wijewardena, Sri Lanka Match referee: Andy Pycroft, Zimbabwe
