Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets on the final day of his Test career in Galle.
The Sri Lanka off-spinner, 38, who made his Test debut in 1992, began his final match against India on 792 wickets.
The next highest figure, posted by Shane Warne, is 708.
In the bigger picture of the match India are down to their last specialist batsman, VVS Laxman, as they face a desperate fight for survival. But few will remember the result in any case. The timing of Muralitharan’s imminent retirement, which he announced this month, has ensured that this Test was always going to be about him and him alone.
Having come into the match with 792 Test wickets to his name, Muralitharan moved to 793 on Tuesday when he had Sachin Tendulkar lbw.
Held back until the second hour of the morning, Muralitharan entered the fray with a trademark booming off-break that rushed through the defences of the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
He then followed up with another deadly doodlebug that kissed the edge of Yuvraj Singh’s bat. Once a couple of tailenders had been added to the pot, he finished the innings with figures of five for 63.
Last pair Ojha and Ishant Sharma resisted for 15 overs, but the safe hands of Jayawardene, one of the most reliable slip fielders of the modern era, fell to his left and pouched his 157th Test catch to begin the Sri Lankan celebrations.
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