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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Galle

GALLE, Friday - The stage is set for one of Test cricket's greatest spin bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan to become the youngest and the quickest bowler to take 400 wickets when the third and final Test opens at the Galle International Stadium here tomorrow.

The 29-year-old off-spinner with an unorthodox action is only five wickets away from achieving this feat and he will be playing in only his 72nd Test.

His present tally stands at 395 wickets.

Comparatively, the quickest bowler to 400 Test wickets was former New Zealand fast bowler Sir Richard Hadlee who took 80 Tests to get there and the youngest bowler to ever reach this milestone is Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne who was 31 years when he crossed the 400- wicket mark against England at the Oval in August last year. So Muralitharan not only has time on his side, but also Tests.

More than anything else Muralitharan has the backing of all his team mates to get to that goal. "This is a historical game for Murali and we are all looking forward and waiting for him taking his 400th wicket," said skipper Sanath Jayasuriya voicing the sentiments of his team. Muralitharan has 21 wickets in the series already and taking five more is not going to be a problem for him considering his amazing strike rate of five and a half wickets a Test in his career.

The master spinner is nursing a finger injury from which he is recovering fast, but that is not going to prove a handicap to him as he sets his sights on becoming the seventh bowler in the history of the game to take 400 Test wickets.

"Murali is recovering fast from the injury. We still have to carefully manage him and may have to hide him a little on the field, but not as much as we did in the last game," said Jayasuriya.

"The wicket looks a good one and it should start turning on the second and the third days.

It looks like a similar pitch to the one in the West Indies game, but because of the heat it may start cracking," he said.

Sri Lanka already 2-up in the three-match series are looking to complete their second successive whitewash having earlier beating West Indies 3-0.

Jayasuriya said that the final choice whether to play with two fast bowlers and two spinners or with three seamers and just Muralitharan will have to be decided at the team meeting later in the evening.

Nuwan Zoysa is nursing a niggle in the groin, but Jayasuriya said the injury was not 100 per cent and that he has been bowling in the nets and should be available for selection. Another left-arm fast bowler Ruchira Perera has been drafted into the squad as a cover up.

However, indications are that Sri Lanka will opt for two seamers and two spinners with leg-spinner Upul Chandana likely to replace Zoysa in the final eleven.

When asked why no major changes have taken place since the series had already been decided, Jayasuriya said: "We discussed making changes but we want to get all the players in good form. Especially, players like Russel Arnold, who has a big role to play in Sri Lanka cricket and needs some confidence".

"We also want to stand by the likes of Buddhika Fernando. We are grooming him for the future and we should give him a decent chance. We are going to England and we will have a chance of playing some youngsters in the early games," he said.

Jayasuriya said that all the players were looking forward to take a break from cricket after this Test as they have been playing since last October. "I've heard that this is one of the most turning pitches in Sri Lanka. It really looks like there is the odd big crack there. Murali bowls very well in these conditions and it's a great challenge for us," said Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle.

"It is important that we play him a lot better and make sure that we try and deny him getting any wickets at all," said Carlisle.

"We had another meeting and discussed Murali and I can't really say what our plans are but things are gonna improve and it's upto the individual at the end of the day.

"Everyone knows what kind of balls he bowls and there is only so much you can do and so much we can watch. How he varies his pace and how he turns in that quicker one. One of the big things you have got to be a little bit careful is going back to Murali. It's up to each individual how they assess it. You have to be professional and mature enough to be able to read him yourself as an individual," said Carlisle.

"We suggested we need another left-hander and left-handers are always going to be better against Murali because he bowls that line they can sweep. One or two right-handed guys have also tried to sweep him," he said. 'It is a shame that we don't have a specialist spinner on this surface.

Once again it's going to be hard for us because we don't have one. There is nothing we can do about it. We don't have any genuine spinners but Grant's (Flower) has always done a pretty good job for us.

"He's kept things tight and that's what you strive for. The spinners to try and keep it as tight as possible and just keep the pressure on wherever we can and put pressure and get the batsman some mistakes. So we will have to try and get wickets like that," he said.

Zimbabwe have been reduced to just 12 players with Hamilton Masazadza and Tatendra Taibu having gone across to New Zealand to represent the country in the under 19 World Cup tournament starting on January 14.

However, Carlisle said: "We are still waiting for a call back from the board to decided on our 11".

The teams: Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Tilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Buddhika Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa, Upul Chandana, Ruchira Perera.

Zimbabwe (from): Stuart Carlisle (captain), Trevor Gripper, Dion Ebrahim, Gavin Rennie, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Craig Wishart, Heath Streak, Travis Friend, Douglas Marillier, Gary Brent, Henry Olonga.

Umpires: David Shepherd (England) and Tyronne Wijewardene (Sri Lanka), TV Umpire: Gamini Silva (Sri Lanka), Match Referee: Cammie Smith (West Indies).

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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