COLOMBO, 17 July 2005 — Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed 6-36 on his return to international cricket after almost a year as Sri Lanka thumped a weakened West Indies side by six wickets in the first cricket Test here yesterday.
The off-spinner, out of action for 11 months due to a shoulder injury, led Sri Lanka’s victory march in their 150th Test match with his 45th haul of five wickets or more in an innings.
Seamer Chaminda Vaas chipped in with 4-15 as Sri Lanka skittled out the second-string West Indies for 113 in their second knock in the morning session of the fourth day.
Set a modest target of 172, the hosts survived a Jermaine Lawson scare to romp home after tea and take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Fast bowler Lawson removed Sanath Jayasuriya (15) and Kumar Sangakkara off successive deliveries and then dismissed captain Marvan Atapattu (28) to reduce Sri Lanka to 49-3.
All three batsmen fell to brilliant diving catches by Xavier Marshall at point, Sylvester Joseph in the slips and teenaged wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.
But the fourth-wicket pair of Mahela Jayawardena and Thilan Samaraweera put on 86 to dampen West Indian hopes of pulling off an extraordinary upset.
Samaraweera hit 51 before he was trapped leg-before by Lawson, who finished with four wickets in each innings.
Jayawardena remained unbeaten on 41 as Tillakaratne Dilshan (30 not out) smashed Tino Best through the covers for the winning boundary.
It was Sri Lanka’s first Test match at home since the tsunamis ravaged the island nation seven months ago and marked Australian Tom Moody’s successful debut as national coach.
“We were playing at home after a long time and to come back and win after conceding the first innings lead is really remarkable,” said Atapattu.
“We took some time to settle down in this Test and there were a few hiccups on the way especially when we lost three quick wickets today. “But we back ourselves to come out of such situations.
“I regard Muralitharan as the best bowler in the world and it was great to see him back. As for Vaas, he has performed admirably over the years and is always there when the chips are down,” the Sri Lankan captain said.
Vaas was named man of the match for his seven wickets and a top score of 49 in Sri Lanka’s first innings of 227.
It was, however, Muralitharan who stole the show, returning to his famed wicket-taking ways after finishing with 1-56 in the first innings. The 31-year-old was Test cricket’s most successful bowler with 532 wickets when he fell and injured his right shoulder during a Test match against South Africa at home last August.
The injury allowed Australian Shane Warne to skip past Muralitharan and the leg-spinner begins the Ashes series against England next week with a world record tally of 583 from 123 Tests. Muralitharan now has 539 wickets from 92 games.
West Indian captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the only experienced player in the depleted touring squad, played a lone hand for his team, returning unbeaten on 48.
The West Indies are without 10 leading players, including star batsman Brian Lara, who all refused to sign the tour contracts following a sponsorship dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board.
“For the experience we have in this team, I think the boys competed well,” said Bennett King, the West Indies’ Australian coach.
“There are obviously areas we can do better and that will come with experience. But there are a lot of positives from this game which we can build on.”
The second Test begins in the hill resort of Kandy on July 22.
