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History made in Kandy: Revisiting Muralitharan's historic 709th Test wicket 

Shreyasi

Murali surpassing Warne in Kandy [Source: X/@ICC]Murali surpassing Warne in Kandy [Source: X/@ICC]

One of the most intriguing elements of World Cricket in the late 1990s and early 2000s was the spin-bowling rivalry between Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. The leggie from Australia and the off spinner from Sri Lanka were already the legends of the game and in a race to become the highest wicket taker in Test cricket.

The spin war

Murali became the first bowler to surpass Courtney Walsh's record of 519 wickets. But he was soon overtaken by Warne. This happened a couple of times before Warne took a significant lead and kept the mantle till his retirement.

He retired in January 2007, after a successful 5-0 Ashes win with a record 708 wickets in his name. Muralitharan, at that stage, had 674 wickets and picked up 30 wickets in his next 5 Test matches to reach 704 wickets before the start of the home series against England in December 2007.

The first Test match was at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka could post only 188 in their first innings with Kumar Sangakkara contributing 92. When England came out to bat, all eyes were on Murali, who did not pick up any wickets on day one.

However, day two appeared with significant changes.

Murali broke the 107-run partnership between Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell by dismissing Vaughn and then ran through the England middle order to dismiss Bell, Kevin Pietersen, and Ravi Bopara to take his wicket tally to 708- equal with Warne.

The rain brought an early close, and Murali had to wait one more day to break the world record.

709 and counting

On December 3, 2007, the day started with all the hype around Muralitharan’s world record. However, Paul Collingwood, along with Ryan Sidebottom, resisted the Sri Lankan bowlers to put up a fight. Malinga eventually broke the partnership by dismissing Sidebottom.

This followed a perfect off-spinner from Murali that went through the defense of Collingwood to hit the off and middle stump. And the moment arrived. Muttiah Muralitharan reached the magic number of 709. 

The celebrations on the field and off the field were extraordinary. The team members hugged Murali. The stadium was electric; the crowd erupted in joy, and firecrackers illuminated the sky, making the moment truly unforgettable.

Sri Lanka made a strong comeback in that Test match, thanks to Murali’s 6-wicket spell in the first innings. Sangakkara’s 152 in the second innings eventually helped them win the Test by 88 runs.

Muttiah Muralitharan continued to play for Sri Lanka in Tests until 2010 and finished his Test career with exactly 800 wickets. This remains an unbeaten world record to date, which will be difficult for anyone to surpass.