Muttiah Muralitharan claimed his 800th wicket in Test cricket and retired from the Test. He is the only bowler to capture 75 wickets or more in a year three times.

Murali came close to claiming 100 wickets in the year 2006 when he fell short by 10 wickets.

Muttiah Muralitharan has 800 wickets at an average of 22.72 from 122 matches.

Muttiah Muralitharan retires from Test

Achievements & Highlights:

• Murali has captured 166 wickets at Colombo, SSC, 117 wickets at Kandy and 111 wickets at Galle. No other bowler has captured 100 wickets at one ground.
• He is the only bowler to take 100 wickets against India – 105 at an average of 32.61 in 22 Tests.
• He is the second bowler after Shane Warne to capture 100 Test wickets or more against three countries.
• He is the fastest to reach 400 wickets, (72 Tests), 500 wickets (87 Tests), 600 wickets (101 Tests), 700 wickets (113 Tests).
• His tally of 67 instances of five wickets in an innings is a record.
• His tally of 10 wickets in a Test match 22 times is also a record.
• He has won 11 Player of the Series awards, the most by any player.
• His tally of 19 Man of the Match awards is also a Sri Lankan record.
• He is the first bowler to take five wickets in an innings against all the other nine Test playing nations.
• He captured nine wickets in an innings twice – 9 for 51 (career best) vs. Zimbabwe at Kandy in 2002 and 9 for 65 against England at The Oval in 1998.
• Twice in his career, he has claimed 10 wickets in a Test match in four Tests in succession – in 2001 & 2006.
• His match figures of 16 for 220 (career-best) are the best for Sri Lanka in Tests.
• He also holds the record for most wickets taken ‘bowled’ – 167.
• He jointly holds the record for most ‘caught and bowled’ dismissals – 35 – with Anil Kumble.
• He holds the record for most wickets taken ’stumped’ – 47.

Related posts

• 2nd Test: Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan (0)
• India vs Sri Lanka: Sehwag smashes to create history (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings: Kevin Pietersen Vs Dhoni (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab: Clash between Kings (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: Will Chennai improve fielding? (0)

Chennai Super Kings have clinched the DLF IPL season 3 Champions title beating Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in the excellent nail biting game played at Dr D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

Chennai after winning the toss chose to bat first and made 168/5 from the 20 overs while Mumbai on their chase were able to make only 146/9 from 20 overs.

Sachin (48 from 45 balls, 7*4), Abhishek Nayar (27 from 26 balls, 1*4, 2*6), Rayudu (21 from 14 balls, 1*4, 1*6) and Pollard (27 from 10 balls, 3*4, 2*6) contributed decently for the MUmbai while rest of them made single digit runs.

For the Super Kings everyone contributed well and made it big at the end of the match.

It is to be remembered that Chennai lost to Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL season and during the second season they lost in the semis.

Chennai also hold the strange record of posting the highest ever total of 246 vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL Season 3 and the second highest winning total of 240 vs Kings XI Punjab in IPL Season 1. Also they have the record for the lowest ever winning score of 55/0 vs Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL Season 1.

With this Chennai have proved that they are the real Super Kings and have become the DLF IPL Champions of 2010.

Related posts

• IPL is important for me says Flintoff (0)
• Tit-Bits: India Vs New Zealand, Day 4, Final Test, Wellington (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: Badrinath, Hayden lead to Chennai victory (0)
• India’s T20 World Cup Squad for the Caribbean (2)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Mumbai Indians: Will Devils threaten Mumbai? (0)

Sri Lanka will once again go without the spin king Muttiah Muralitharan as they attempt a series-clinching win when the second Test against Pakistan starts on Sunday.

The world’s leading Test and One-day bowler missed the first Test in Galle, which Sri Lanka won by 50 runs, after hurting the patella tendon in his right knee during training last week.

Team manager Brendon Kuruppu said Muralitharan, 37, had improved considerably but will sit out the second Test on his home ground at the P Sara Oval as a precautionary measure.

“He won’t be playing the Test, but that’s more as a precaution than anything else,” Kuruppu said. “We are confident Murali will play the third Test.”

The off-spinner, who has taken a record 770 Test and 505 One-day wickets, was not missed as Sri Lanka pulled off a dramatic win in the Galle Test to take the lead in the three-match series.

Pakistan, chasing a modest target of 168 runs, collapsed from a comfortable 71-2 to 117 all out, losing their last eight wickets for 46 runs on the fourth day.

Related posts

• ICC Twenty20 World Cup: Finals: Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab: Clash between Kings (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: Will Chennai improve fielding? (0)
• Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers: Another chance for Chennai to prove (0)
• Chennai Kings Vs Punjab Kings: Dhoni upset with Chennai fielding (0)

Stung by their two-wicket loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore, a wounded Chennai Super Kings would hope to bounce back against Mumbai Indians in a bid to advance towards their semifinal goal in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.

Chennai would be fired up to cash on Mumbai Indians’ weakness of buckling under pressure, especially with every match being crucial for the eight teams.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men are sitting pretty at second spot with 13 points in their kitty from 11 matches while Sachin Tendulkar has a tough task in his hands with mere 11 points from their 12 appearances in the high-profile tournament so far.

Chennai, who lost to Mumbai in the tournament opener, look in a stronger position in tomorrow’s encounter despite its unimpressive fielding but surely boasts of a strong batting line-up which also runs deep with the likes of Australian swashbuckler Mathew Hayden, Suresh Raina, Dhoni, Jacob Oram and S Badrinath in their ranks.

Their bowling department is also studded with world’s highest wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan, Lakshmipathy Balaji and novice Shahdab Jakati, who is proving very effective for the side.

Related posts

• Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Challengers bounce back (0)
• Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab: Hodge helps Kolkata set 154 target (0)
• IPL 2 – Semi-Final 2-Chennai Super Kings Vs Royal Challengers (0)
• Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers: Knight Riders hope to perform well (0)
• Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils: Deccan win will guarantee them Semi-final spot (0)

S Badrinath smashed a brilliant unbeaten 59 and shared a crucial 89-run partnership with Mathew Hayden (48) to register Chennai Super Kings’ impressive seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match on Saturday.

Chennai not only recorded their fifth win in a row but also beat the defending champions for the second time in the second edition of the event to go top of the points table. Chasing 141 to win, last year’s finalists, overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare.

Earlier, riding on a disciplined bowling attack, Chennai had restricted Rajasthan to a modest 140 for seven.

The slow nature of the wicket at the De Beers Diamond Oval made the contest between the ball and the bat interesting and set up an exciting finish.

Hayden and Badrinath batted intelligently as stroke-making was quite difficult on the 22-yard-strip here. Badrinath supported Hayden well after losing two early wickets. The Tamil Nadu batsman hit Shane Harwood for one six and three fours in the 16th over to take the pressure off Hayden, who batted with determination from the start.

Hayden departed when he danced down to the wicket off rival skipper Shane Warne in the 17th over but was foxed by the big turn and stumper Naman Ojha uprooted the stumps.

Chennai needed 15 runs from 19 balls at that stage but Badrinath held his nerves and not only completed his third IPL fifty but also steered Chennai to victory. Badrinath hit nine fours and one six in his 41-ball knock while Hayden hit four fours and one six in his 44-ball essay.

Though Chennai did not lose too many wickets, the slow run-rate had made the job tough.

Like Royals, Chennai too struggled to make a quick start as the bowlers, especially spinners were getting purchase from the wicket.

Yusuf Pathan, who started the proceedings for Rajasthan, and Warne bowled some unplayable deliveries.

Siddharth Trivedi drew the first blood for the defending champions by trapping opener M Vijay (10) and then Amit Singh got rid of Suresh Raina (13).

Raina had hit Singh for a six and a four in that over and when the diminutive left-hander went for another big shot in the last ball, the miscued shot landed in the hands of Lee Carseldine at point.

Hayden, careful in his shot selection, did the bulk of the scoring in the first 10 overs and took Chennai to 67 for two during the strategic break.

Earlier, Chennai bowlers used the slow track brilliantly as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni shuffled them intelligently throughout the Royals innings, ending at 140 for seven.

Graeme Smith (30), Swapnil Asnodkar (26) and Ravindra Jadeja (27) were the main contributors for the defending champions.

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan (2-22) and Shadab Jakati (2-35) took two wickets apiece, capitalising on a brilliant start provided by their pacers. Naman Ojha, who anchored Royals’ last two wins, looked in hurry and paid the price. He went for a drive and was castled by Albie Morkel in the very first over of the match.

The Chennai pacers bowled a tight line and gave away just 25 runs in the first five overs. Dhoni shuffled his bowlers quickly and by the eighth over, six different bowlers had come into the attack.

Smith and Asnodkar slowly took their side to fifty-run mark, mostly scoring through ones and twos. Muralitharan broke the 53-run partnership when he trapped Asnodkar and sent back Smith when the South African captain dragged his feet out of the crease while attempting a sweep shot and Dhoni stumped him.

Ravindra Jadeja hit Shadab Jakati for consecutive fours and Yusuf Pathan finished off the over with a massive six to begin the fireworks.

However, both the batsmen departed while trying to press the accelerator button. First to go was Jadeja (27 off 19) who slashed one hard off Laxmipati Balaji but Suresh Raina took a brilliant low catch at point to send him back.

Pathan (7) started his walk back after finding Jacob Oram on the edge of the boundary while trying to hit Jakati out of the park. Captain Shane Warne hit an unbeaten 11-ball 21 late in the end to take his side to near 150-run mark.

Related posts

• Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals: Super Over proved successful for the Royals (0)
• Kings XI Punjab Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan Royals Lose to Punjab Kings (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Rajasthan Royals: Anil Kumble bowls out Rajasthan with 5/5 (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Delhi won by 9 wickets (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Chennai Set 189 Target (0)

Yet another interesting clash between a consistent batting side and a strategically proficient team is on the cards as table toppers Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Saturday.

There is not much to choose between the two teams as far as their performance in the last couple of matches are concerned. However, the Super Kings seemed to be much more consistent in batting and bowling, but sloppy in fielding. They will be aiming to notch up their fifth win on the trot while the Royals would be plotting revenge after losing to the Chennai side by 38 runs in Pretoria on April 30.

The two teams have same number of points (11), have won five matches each, lost three each and there was no result in one of both team’s matches, but the Super Kings are ahead on net run rate. This shows that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side has done better in batting. In fact, the Super Kings have crossed 150 in all their matches.

The Royals were also dealt a blow by the injury of all-rounder Shane Watson who has been ruled out of IPL after suffering a mild groin injury during Australia’s one-off Twenty20 International against Pakistan in Dubai. Watson, the player of the tournament in IPL’s first edition, would have solved a lot of problems in the inconsistent Royals middle-order apart from strengthening the pace attack.

The Super Kings batting has been firing all along with retired Australian Mathew Hayden leading the charge and Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself in fine touch. In fact, Hayden (378 runs) and Raina (296) are occupying the first two places among the run-getters in this IPL season at the moment.

In the bowling department, Laxmipathy Balaji has been among the wickets (11). Muttiah Muralidharan (7) and little known Shadab Jakati (9) have also been doing wonders. Dhoni can also rely on part-timer Raina after his immaculate bowling against the Kings XI Punjab Thursday.

One area of concern for the Super Kings is fielding. Dhoni was understandably angry with the shoddy fielding of his side against the Kings XI as his players dropped easy catches of key opposition players. The team management will have to address this issue if they are to put pressure on stroke makers like Graeme Smith, Naman Ojha, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja. The Royals’ batting can fire anytime with Smith close to his best form after scoring 77 against the Kings XI Punjab in Durban.

Related posts

• Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils: De Villiers maiden 100 in IPL 2 gave Daredevils a thrilling 9 run win (0)
• Rahul Dravid makes a comeback (0)
• Gary Kirsten blames IPL (0)
• Deccan Chargers Vs Knight Riders: Deccan Chargers come out fully charged (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Rajasthan Royals: Anil Kumble bowls out Rajasthan with 5/5 (0)

Indian and Chennai Super Kings Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was fuming instead of celebrating the narrow win against Kings XI Punjab, as poor catching threatened to cost them the high-scoring IPL thriller on Thursday.

Yuvraj Singh was batting on 19 when he miscued a shot off Muttiah Muralitharan but much to the horror of the Chennai side, Manpreet Gony grassed the catch in the deep.

Yuvraj went on to slam an unbeaten 36-ball 58 and even though it was not enough to see his side through, Dhoni didn’t mince his words in criticising the lapse.

“It was important to win this match but we were just not up to the mark,” an angry Dhoni said after the match.

“We have not stopped dropping catches. There was nothing in the pitch for the spinners and here you spill an opportunity and that too off a batsman like Yuvraj Singh,” Dhoni said.

“I’m happy to be on the winning side but we needed to win the match comfortably. In all the matches we have lost, we dropped catches of set batsmen and that is disappointing,” Dhoni said.

“This is happening again and again. At this level, you cannot afford to drop catches of someone like Yuvraj. We paid the price for that and it became a close match,” Dhoni explained.

His opposite number Yuvraj was also dejected after failing to see his team through in the tense match. “We almost got there but it’s disappointing not to win the match,” a dejected Yuvraj said.

Admitting that bowling remains a problem for his team, Yuvraj said, “Had we been able to restrict them to 160-170, we would have won the match. Our bowling remains a major problem for us, especially bowling at the death. We have to sort out this issue,” he said.

Yuvraj reckoned Thursday’s defeat has left them with no other option but to try and win all their remaining games which is a huge task.

“We have to win 100 per cent matches and that’s not easy,” he said.

Yuvraj was also unhappy that he could not ensure a win despite staying till the end. “I’m not happy with myself either. I should have seen it through. I think I too need to brush up my game,” he said.

Man of the Match Matthew Hayden said he was enjoying his game and felt Dhoni’s presence at the other end helped him.

Related posts

• Match 20: India Vs England: Wil Dhoni make miracle happen (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils: Daredevils won by 6 wickets (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers: Deccan Chargers top IPL with their next win (0)
• 2nd ODI: India vs Australia: India sets tough target of 355 (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings: Kevin Pietersen Vs Dhoni (0)

Rejuvenated Chennai Super Kings will eye their fourth consecutive victory against the Kings XI Punjab when the two teams square off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday.

The 78-run victory against the Deccan Chargers has only added to the growing confidence of the Super Kings as the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team, who fell at the final hurdle last year, are now comfortably placed on the points table.

In contrast, the Punjab team, who lost their last match to the defending champions Rajasthan Royals, have won four matches from the eight they have played, and they will certainly count upon their batting might to register another win.

Captain Yuvraj Singh, who made a gutsy 37-ball 48 for a losing cause against the Royals, is the mainstay of their batting line-up with Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene and Australian Simon Katich joining him in the middle order.

After young opener Sunny Sohal’s duck in the Royals match, Yuvraj might opt for the previous combination at the beginning of the innings and may himself pair up with their Sri Lankan import Kumar Sangakkara.

Their left-arm pacer Yusuf Abdulla has surely made the batsmen’s life miserable. He is currently holding the purple cap with 14 scalps, but Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth have to lend support to the South African and fire in unison to break the mighty Super Kings batting.

On the other hand, the Chennai team have devastating openers in Matthew Hayden, who has exhibited some superb batting even after retiring from international cricket, and Murali Vijay, who also impressed in the last match.

Besides, much to the cheer of supporters, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has shrugged off his bad patch with a 37-ball 58. His exploits helped the Chennai side romp home in the last match against the Chargers.

The India captain promoted himself up the order in the last match against the Deccan Chargers to spend more time at the crease. It worked wonders for him as he regained his confidence to wreak havoc on the bowlers later on in his innings.

The likes of Suresh Raina, who has played a couple of timely knocks, New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram and South African Albie Morkel will be there in the middle order to provide back up.

While legend Muttiah Muralidharan will keep the batsmen guessing, some timely spells from left-arm tweaker Shadab Jakati may well change the colour of the proceedings.

Their new-ball pair of Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi have not forged a lethal pair, but their ability to pick up some early wickets can leave the opponents in disarray.

Related posts

• Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan fails to defend their Title (0)
• Rajasthan Royals dropped Kaif (0)
• Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians: MI looking to stop DC win (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: McCullum and Hodge helps Kolkata register 7 wicket win (0)
• NZ Vs India Second test Preview (0)

Having lost two matches on the trot, table toppers Deccan Chargers will be looking to get back to winning ways against last year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League at the Buffalo Park on Monday.

For Super Kings it is just the opposite. They are on a two-match winning streak and will be hoping to make a hat-trick of wins, which was done by Deccan Chargers early on in the league.

Deccan Chargers, despite their last two losses, are a formidable outfit and are one of the favourites to win the title and atone for their dismal performance in the first edition, where they finished at the bottom of the table.

This time under a new captain Adam Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers have forced everyone to stand up and take notice of their performance. Their batting has looked solid with Gilchrist leading the charge. Youngsters like Rohit Sharma and Azhar Bilakhia have also come out with good innings.

The bowlers also have done well, especially fast bowlers Rudra Pratap Singh and Fidel Edwards. Rudra Pratap is the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL while Edwards has checked the run flow. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been one of the most successful spinner in the second IPL and was chief architect in Chargers’ win over Mumbai Indians.

Batting and bowling aside, Deccan Chargers’ fielding has been exceptional. Live-wire fielders like Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma have really set the benchmarks on the field.

Not doubt it will be a challenge for the Super Kings to put a challenging total on board. Their opening pair has been a problem. While the veteran Matthew Hayden has been in fine nick, he hasn’t got good support from the other end. Parthiv Patel looked out of sorts and his replacement Murali Vijay was a misfit in the Twenty20.

Except Suresh Raina and S Badrinath, big names like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel are due for a big score.

But the bowlers have come up with good performances. Saturday night little known Shadab Jakati spun Super Kings to a terrific win over Daredevils. Sudeep Tyagi and the wily Muttiah Muralitharan have been economical.

With both the teams eager for a win, an exciting clash is on the card.

Related posts

• IPL semi-final and final in Johannesburg (0)
• Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians: MI looking to stop DC win (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Mumbai Indians: Delhi fails to prove (0)
• Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers: Another chance for Chennai to prove (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan won by 5 wickets (0)

Having got its campaign back on track, Delhi Daredevils will be eyeing its fifth victory while a rejuvenated Chennai Super Kings will be out for revenge in Saturday’s Indian Premier League match.

The Delhi team’s winning streak came to a halt after defending champion Rajasthan Royals inflicted a five-wicket mauling on Tuesday, but the Virender Sehwag-led side shrugged it off to thump Deccan Chargers by six wickets on Thursday.

With eight points from five matches, the Delhi outfit is second in the table behind topper Deccan Chargers on net run-rate.

Last year’s runner-up Super Kings, meanwhile, has had a slow start but is slowly picking up steam.

After hammering Royals by 38 runs, it has now climbed from second last to fifth place in the chart with five points from six outings.

And now it would be aiming to improve its standings further while exacting revenge on the Delhi side to which it had gone down by nine runs in the previous meeting.

But that’s easier said than done and though the ominous opening pair of Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir has failed to click so far, one good knock could see things fall in place for the explosive duo.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, whose unbeaten 52 guided Daredevils to victory against Chargers, is in sparkling form with A B de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik adding to the strength of the line-up.

Daredevils has found a dependable new-ball pair in Australian left-arm paceman Dirk Nannes and India discard Ashish Nehra, who are extending good support to their batting colleagues.

Daniel Vettori and Pradeep Sangwan will also add to the worry of Chennai’s batting order, consisting the likes of Matthew Hayden and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In-form Hayden is the leading run-getter in this IPL with 216 runs and Chennai will depend a lot on his lusty hitting to get even with Daredevils.

After his 98-run heroics against Rajasthan, a lot can be expected from Raina, while S. Badrinath and all-rounder Jacob Oram would also be there to lend support.

Spin legend Muttiah Muralithran has so far failed to live up to expectations and the team also lacks penetration in the opening overs. It will depend on speedster Albie Morkel to cash in on his home advantage and give early jolts to Daredevils.

Related posts

• Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals: Crucial clash between Mumbai and Rajasthan (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj’s loss is Bangalore’s gain (0)
• Chennai Super Kings leave to SA for IPL (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils: De Villiers maiden 100 in IPL 2 gave Daredevils a thrilling 9 run win (0)
• Indian Team’s camp in Bangalore (0)