The Hindu : Warne, Murali... the race is on

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Warne, Murali... the race is on

COLOMBO: Shane Warne needs nine wickets to become the most successful Test bowler ever in cricket. Muttiah Muralitharan is hot on his heels. The spinning duel is destined to dominate the third Test starting on Wednesday at Colombo because Australia clinched the series with a match to spare.

Muralitharan has 505 test wickets after taking 11 in the first Test at Galle and nine at Kandy, becoming only the third man behind retired West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh and Warne to reach the 500 mark.

He'll need a career-best haul on home soil to have a shot at Walsh's record of 519. He's had more than 15 wickets in a Test once, returning 16-220 (7-155 and 9-65) against England at the Oval in 1998 — the fifth-best figures of all time. His best at home was 13-115 against Zimbabwe at Kandy in 2002. Warne has 511 wickets and needs only to maintain his series average to become No. 1. The 34-year-old legspinner said he hadn't dreamed that milestone was possible before he'd embarked for Sri Lanka and his return series from a 12-month ban for a doping violation. After four consecutive five-wicket hauls, he's confident Walsh's record is ``gettable.''

Warne could also become the first bowler to claim five-wicket hauls in five consecutive innings in one series and only the third to snare 10 wickets in three consecutive Tests.

As well as collecting 15 wickets in Colombo, Muralitharan needs to rely on Warne not getting another nine to win the race to the record.

Who'll get there first? ``Who knows, they're both great bowlers,'' said Sri Lankan vice-captain Marvan Atapattu. ``We haven't done any good for Murali with our recent batting performance, but that wasn't always the case when we've played a home series.''

Another stumbling block to Muralitharan's record chase is teammate Chaminda Vaas.``I'm not talking about the second Test,'' Vaas said.

``I'm looking forward to the third Test and my aim is to get five wickets in an innings — I haven't done that against Australia.''

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport