Muralitharan gets set to break 400 mark

Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is set to become the youngest, and the quickest, bowler to take 400 wickets in the third and final Test against Zimbabwe starting on Saturday.

Muralitharan, who has taken 21 wickets in the two Tests against Zimbabwe for 203 runs at an average of 9.66, will begin the Galle Test with 395 wickets from 71 matches.

While he dislocated a finger attempting to take a diving catch in the second Test at Kandy, Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said there was no doubt he would play.

"Murali would even bowl on one leg to play in a Test. You can't keep him out of the action for long," he said.

Only six bowlers in the 125-year history of Test cricket have achieved 400 wickets with New Zealand fast bowler Richard Hadlee the first, and quickest, to the mark in 1990.

Hadlee was playing his 80th Test.

Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was the last and the youngest, capturing his 400th against England at The Oval in August 2001, at 31 and in his 92nd Test.

Currently, he is the only spinner to achieve this feat.

The rest of the 400-club are all quicks -- Kapil Dev, Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose.

Walsh holds the most record for most Test wickets, 519, a mark that Muralitharan is keen to overtake.

Muralitharan, 29, made his Test debut at the age of 20 against Allan Border's Australians in 1992.

The unorthodox off-spinner's career was thrown into doubt when he was called for throwing on two tours to Australia in 1995-96 and in 1999-2000.

His unusual action, however -- he has an abnormally flexible wrist and gives the illusion of throwing because he cannot fully straighten his bowling arm -- has since been cleared by the ICC.

In 2001, Muralitharan finished as the top wicket-taker with 80 wickets from 12 Tests, 22 wickets more than Warne who played in 13 Tests.

Muralitharan has taken 51 wickets from seven Tests at an average of 16.49 at Galle.

His best match figures at Galle were 13 for 171 to subject Shaun Pollock's South Africans to an innings defeat in 2000-01.

Also read:
- A perfect 10 for the Kandy man?
- Muralitharan spins Sri Lanka to record win
- Murali misses perfect 10
- Murali tops bowler ratings
- Muralitharan creates a world record
- Muralitharan targets 500 Test wickets
- 300 Test Wickets For Muthiah Muralitharan
- The Muralitharan-Hair controversy

Mail Cricket Editor