Muttiah Muralitharan took eight wickets, including all of England’s top seven, as Sri Lanka won the third and final Test by 134 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday to level the series at 1-1 with more than a day to spare.
The 34-year-old offspinner, in what could be his final Test in England, finished with figures of 8-70, including a spell of 8-26 in 105 balls.
He had been on course to become only the third bowler in Test history to take all 10 wickets in an innings, after England offspinner Jim Laker (10-53 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956) and India legspinner Anil Kumble (10-74 against Pakistan at Delhi in 1999).
But teenager Chamara Kapugedera, who had earlier scored a Test-best fifty, ended Murali’s hopes of joining his two fellow spin greats by running out Matthew Hoggard for four.
England, who needed 325 to win, finished on 190 as Murali, whose unique action has seen him no-balled four times for throwing during a controversial career, proved too much on a wearing pitch and ended with a match haul of 11-132 — the 16th time he had taken 10 or more wickets in a Test.
Liam Plunkett was 22 not out.
The most runs England had scored to win a Test in the fourth innings was the 332-7 they achieved against Australia at Melbourne back in 1928/29.
But they began their daunting task with a solid opening stand of 84 between left-handers Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss.
Murali, who came on in the 10th over, initiated the collapse when he had Trescothick playing on to a ball that kept low for 31.
Alastair Cook, dropped on one, was lbw for five to Murali’s ”doosra” — the ball that turns into the left-hander rather than a normal offspinner, which spins away.
Strauss had completed an 87-ball fifty with six fours, his first half-century of the series, before he was caught for 55 at slip by Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene off Murali to leave England 111-3.
Kevin Pietersen, who made 142 in England’s six-wicket second Test win at Edgbaston, then fell for six when he was caught by Tillakaratane Dilshan at short leg off the glove.
And four balls later England captain Andrew Flintoff fell to former Lancashire teammate Murali, also caught by Dilshan, off bat and pad, for nought.
Dilshan then took a superb catch off Paul Collingwood’s bottom-edge as the Durham all-rounder fell for nine, although it needed the third umpire to confirm his exit.
England were 125-6 at tea, 200 runs shy of victory.
Wicket-keeper Geraint Jones fell soon afterwards, bowled for six by Murali who, at that stage, had taken seven wickets for 16 runs.
Then 19-year-old Kapugedera ran out Hoggard with a brilliantly acrobatic direct hit as England slumped to 136-8 before Jon Lewis was plumb lbw to Murali for seven.
Last man Monty Panesar swept Murali for some well-struck boundaries, including a superb six, but was merely delaying the inevitable.
But the left-arm spinner could be content with a Test-best score of 26 to go with the Test-best haul of 5-78 (his first five-wicket Test innings return) he completed earlier on Monday as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 322 in their second innings.
Panesar was last man out, lbw to left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya, after striking one six and three fours as England’s innings ended inside 69 overs.
They lost 10 wickets for 106 runs in 250 balls.
In the morning, Sri Lanka left-arm quick Chaminda Vaas, a thorn in England’s side with the bat this series, finished on 34 not out with seven fours.
In Sri Lanka’s first innings he had made an unbeaten 38 and put on a valuable 62 for the last wicket with Muralitharan. — AFP
