A match figure of 9 for 102, with a fifer in the first innings of the first Test against Bangladesh means that Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralidharan now has a phenomenal 59 wickets in seven Tests against Bangladesh. What this also means that the Kandy man is now just 25 shy of Aussie Shane Warne’s world record tally of 708 Test wickets.
Muralidharan, now at 683 wickets in 111 tests, has taken five wickets in an innings against Bangladesh on eight occasions, and ten wickets in a match on two occasions against the newest entrant to Test cricket. With two more Tests to go in the current home series for the Emerald Islanders, and 40 Bangladeshi wickets there for the taking, the rampaging Murali can well topple Warne from the throne of the highest wicket taker in the history of Test cricket, by July 15 when the third Test ends. However, this can be a possibility only if Murali can be given a decent go at the meowing Bangla tigers – if Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga haven’t made a mincemeat of them in their initial hunt together.
With a dubious record of 41 defeats and a solitary victory in 47 Tests in eight years, Bangladesh actually has an even worse Test record against Sri Lanka – a hundred per cent defeat (read ‘drubbing’) in eight matches, with five innings defeats (all in Colombo), and a 10 wicket loss (in Bogra). However, the Bangla boys have fared a shade better in their 19 One-Day Internationals against the Lankan lions, where the former has managed a 4-wicket victory in Bogra in 2006.
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