Muralitharan became the first bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture 800 wickets when he had PP Ojha caught by DPMD Jayawardene for 13 in the second innings of this test,

Progressive milestones of his 800 wickets read thus

First Wicket : CJ McDermott of Australia – lbw for 9 at Col-RPS in Aug 1992 in his first test

100^th wicket : SP Fleming of New Zealand – bowled for 59 at Hamilton in Mar 1997 in his 27^th test

200^th wicket – DG Cork of England – caught by RS Kaluwitharana for 8 at The Oval in Aug 1998 in his 42^nd test

300^th wicket : SM Pollock of South Africa – caught by TM Dilshan for 11 at Durban in Dec 2000 in his 58^th test

400^th wicket : HK Olanga of Zimbabwe – bowled for zero at Galle in Jan 2002 in his 72^nd test

500^th wicket : MS Kaspriwicz of Australia –bowled for zero at Kandy in Mar 2004 in his 87^th test

600^th wicket : Khaled Mashud of Bangladesh – caught by SL Malinga for 6 at Bogra in Mar 2006 in his 101^st test

700^th wicket : Syed Rasel of Bangladesh – caught by MF Mahroof for 6 at Kandy in Jul 2006 in his 113rd test

800^th wicket : PP Ojha of India – caught by DPMD Jayawardene for 13 at Galle in Jul 2010 in his 133^rd test

It is by statistical coincidence that Muralitharan has captured his 400^th and 800^th wickets in a test match played at Galle.

Break up of Muralitharan’s 800 wickets country wise read thus – vs Australia {59}, vs Bangladesh {89}, vs England {112}, vs India {105}, vs New Zealand {82}, vs Pakistan {80}, vs South Africa {104}, vs West Indies {82} and vs Zimbabwe {87}

Break up of Muralitharan’s 67 five wicket haul country wise read thus – vs Australia {05}, vs Bangladesh {11}, vs England {08}, vs India {07}, vs New Zealand {05}, vs Pakistan {05}, vs South Africa {11}, vs West Indies {09} and vs Zimbabwe {06}

Break up of Muralitharan’s 22 ten wicket hauls country wise read thus – vs Australia {01}, vs Bangladesh {04}, vs England {04}, vs India {02}, vs New Zealand {01}, vs Pakistan {01}, vs South Africa {04}, vs West Indies {03} and vs Zimbabwe {02}