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Muralitharan's feats

December 12, 2005 08:15 IST
Muttiah Muralitharan turned the Delhi Test on its head by returning the figures of 7 for 100 in India's first innings. His performance is the best by a Sri Lankan bowler against India in India, obliterating Kumara Dharmasena's 5 for 57 in the second innings of the Mumbai Test in 1997-98.

This was also the ninth occasion when Murali took 7 or more wickets in an innings. No other bowler has taken more than seven. The following table lists the bowlers with most number of 7-wicket hauls in Test cricket:

Bowler For 7-wkt hauls
M Muralitharan SL 9
SF Barnes Eng 7
GA Lohmann Eng 7
A Kumble Ind 6
SK Warne Aus 6
AV Bedser Eng 5
CV Grimmett Aus 5
Imran Khan Pak 5
Kapil Dev Ind 5
Harbhajan Singh Ind 5

Muralitharan is all set to become the most successful spinner against India. The seven wicket haul in India's first innings has taken his tally of wickets to 60 from 14 Tests and now only one bowler - West Indian Lance Gibbs - is ahead of Murali in the tally of most successful spinners against India

The following table lists the most successful spinners against India:

Bowler For Wkts Tests Balls Mdns Runs Best 5WI 10WM Ave SR
LR Gibbs WI 63 15 4793 284 1467 8-38 4 0 23.29 76.08
M Muralitharan SL 60 14 4204 168 1840 8-87 4 1 30.66 70.06
R Benaud Aus 52 8 2953 198 956 7-72 5 1 18.38 56.79
SK Warne Aus 43 14 3925 139 2029 6-125 1 0 47.19 91.28
H Verity Eng 38 6 1632 105 615 7-49 1 1 16.18 42.95
Iqbal Qasim Pak 34 15 3359 176 1334 6-40 2 1 39.24 98.79
PH Edmonds Eng 33 14 3747 222 1346 4-31 0 0 40.79 113.55
R Illingworth Eng 31 8 2148 144 592 6-29 2 0 19.10 69.29
AL Valentine WI 30 7 3012 217 942 5-64 2 0 31.40 100.40

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Rajneesh Gupta