Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan holds up the cricket ball as he walks back to the pavilion at the end of India's second innings during the fifth and final day of the first cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and India at The Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on July 22, 2010. Retiring world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka reached the 800-wicket mark with his last delivery in Test cricket.LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI
Muttiah Muralitharan captured his 800th wicket with the final ball of his test career on Thursday as Sri Lanka cruised towards a thumping victory over India after finally breaking the tourists' stubborn resistance.
Requiring just 95 runs for victory, Sri Lanka went to the tea interval on 63 for no wickets with Tillakaratne Dilshan on 37 not out and Tharanga Paranavitana unbeaten on 21.
The final day of the weather-interrupted test, however, belonged to Muralitharan, who ended India's second innings in typical flamboyant style.
Muralitharan's unique feat of becoming the first bowler to achieve the mark was greeted by fireworks and his team mates all ran to hug the off-spinner before carrying him shoulder high to the dressing room.
The 38-year-old leading wicket-taker in tests and one-day internationals dismissed Pragyan Ojha to reach the milestone in a fitting finale to a brilliant career with his family cheering him on from the Galle stadium stands.
Ojha, brilliantly caught by Mahela Jayawardene at first slip, was the final Indian wicket to fall in the second innings as the visitors made 338, with his wicket setting off wild celebrations among Sri Lanka's players and fans in the stadium.
Earlier, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa flew in by helicopter to watch a few minutes play and spoke to Muralitharan and the rest of the team.
Muralitharan went into the final day of a 133-match test career needing two wickets to retire with 800 victims and took just 15 deliveries to trap Harbhajan Singh lbw for his 799th dismissal.
India, who had resumed on 181-5 and 63 runs short of making the hosts bat again, survived until lunch and more than an hour of the afternoon session before Muralitharan dismissed Ojha in his 45th over of the innings.
At lunch, Muralitharan remained frustrated in his effort to secure his milestone wicket as Sri Lanka faced stubborn resistance from India's Vangipurappu Laxman.
Laxman survived the opening session to remain undefeated on 58 as India went to lunch on 292-8 in their second innings, the batsman withstanding the pace of Lasith Malinga and Muralitharan's spin to save India from an innings defeat.
India got off to a terrible start to the fifth day when they lost skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh cheaply within the first 20 minutes of play.
Dhoni was yorked by Malinga for four and Harbhajan was trapped by Muralitharan on a sweep shot to a straight ball for eight.
Debutant Abhimanyu Mithun joined Laxman in an eighth-wicket stand of 41 to frustrate the Sri Lankan bowlers before Malinga removed the bowler lbw for 25, to capture his fifth wicket of the innings.
Muralitharan then kept changing ends as he looked for that elusive test wicket but Laxman and Ishant Sharma kept him waiting until the former was run out for a fighting 69.