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He was made to wait, longer than he or any of his legions of admirers could ever have imagined, but in end, the inevitable could not be postponed indefinitely. Muttiah Muralitharan, with a snake of a delivery that slithered past Paul Collingwood's half-formed defences and into the middle and off stumps, reclaimed his world record to spark scenes of delirium in his home town of Kandy.

The atmosphere in the morning had been nothing short of reverential. On any other day, the early start time of 10am might have caught his punters on the hop, but not today. They were ready as soon as dawn broke, and came flooding into the Asgiriya armed with banners, flags, drums and good humour, to put the finishing touches to a pageant that had begun with Murali's irresistible onslaught on the second afternoon.

The band at the foot of the Old Trinitians' clubhouse set the tempo, maintaining a frantic rhythm all throughout the first hour. And yet, England batted with a sense of purpose matched only by the sense of expectation. Collingwood nudged and hustled, and even unfurled a timely reverse sweep, while Ryan Sidebottom defied all predictions of his impending demise - no shot was better than his sweetly timed tuck off the pads to the midwicket boundary.

The supporters began to fret as the drinks session came and went. Murali took his cap and retreated from the attack after seven typically tight yet improbably fruitless overs, and Mahela Jayawardene took the new ball. The Barmy Army raised their voices in admiration for the efforts of their batsmen, but the over-riding feeling in the ground was more akin to the Grinch stealing Christmas. This wasn't scripted in the Kandy coronation.

The new ball did the trick and Sidebottom nudged a low catch to the keeper, but still England's resistance went on. An eight-over hiatus, and there was nothing else for it. Back came Murali to more glorious acclaim, and the band struck up a quick-step to hasten him to his goal. This time, there would be no more deviation from the script. Collingwood negotiated three anxious deliveries, the third of which ballooned teasingly off the pad, but the fourth fizzed into the stumps and pandemonium ensued.

Murali punched both fists in the air in triumph and hurtled down the pitch to be engulfed by his jubilant team-mates. The crowd formed a conga on the grass beneath the scorecard, while up on the hillside - where the monks were looking on approvingly - a barrage of firecrackers filled the air with noise and smoke to alert Murali's townsfolk that history had been achieved. "I meant to spin it one way and the ball went the other way," he grinned as the media engulfed him at the end of the innings. If he didn't know what he planned to do, what hope the batsmen?

He's been here before of course. Back in May 2004, Murali overhauled Courtney Walsh's mark of 519, but the setting on that occasion was the Harare Sports Club, and the opponents a meek and bewildered Zimbabwe. This time the stakes could hardly be higher. The acclaim for his record could not entirely distract from the success of England's batsmen. He and his team are in a battle in this Test, which you sense is exactly how he likes it.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

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Highest wicket-takers in Tests

World-record holders over the years

Watch out Warnie: Murali celebrates No. 700 earlier this year

708: Muttiah Muralitharan bowled Paul Collingwood in his 116th Test, against England in Kandy 2007-08, to go past Shane Warne's record of 708 Test wickets.

532: Warne broke Murali's tally of 532 wickets by dismissing Irfan Pathan in Chennai in October 2004. It was Warne's 114th Test.

527: Murali grabbed the record after both, Warne and he, were on 527 wickets each. Martin van Jaarsveld was Murali's 528th wicket in Galle in August 2004.

527: Warne equaled the world record for the first time when he had Upul Chandana stumped in Cairns in 2004 but he couldn't go past Murali in his 112th Test.

519: Murali claimed the record for the first time, from Courtney Walsh, by dismissing Mluleki Nkala in Harare in 2004. It was his 89th Test and it was the first time that a spinner had the record since Lance Gibbs.

434: Walsh became the first, and to date only, West Indian fast bowler to hold the record for most Test wickets. Walsh surpassed Kapil Dev's 434 wickets when he dismissed Henry Olonga in his 114 Test at Sabina Park in March 2000.

431: Kapil Dev huffed and puffed past Richard Hadlee's record of 431 wickets in his 130th Test, against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad in February 1994. Hashan Tillakaratne was his victim. He had equaled Hadlee in the previous Test against Sri Lanka in Bangalore.

373: Hadlee equaled Ian Botham's tally of 373 wickets against Australia in Melbourne in December 1987; went wicketless in his next Test against England in February 1988; and broke the record in his 75th Test, against India in Bangalore in November 1988.

355 - Botham took the record from Dennis Lillee in his 86th Test. He returned from drugs ban at The Oval in 1986 and dismissed Bruce Edgar with his first ball to equal Lillee's record, prompting Graham Gooch to ask "Who writes your scripts?" He dismissed Jeff Crowe in his second over to claim the record.

309 - Lillee destroyed West Indies with 7 for 83 in Melbourne in December 1981 to take the record from Lance Gibbs. Lillee was playing his 58th Test and Larry Gomes was his 310th wicket.

307: Gibbs drew level with Fred Trueman's tally of 307 wickets in the fifth Test against Australia in Adelaide in January 1976 and broke the record when he dismissed Ian Redpath in the next Test in Melbourne, which was his last match.

242: Fred Trueman beat Brian Statham's 242 Test wickets in his 56th Test, by taking 9 for 91 against New Zealand in Christchurch in March 1963.

236: Brian Statham became the world-record holder, surpassing Alec Bedser, when he took his 237th wicket - Barry Shepherd - Australia in Adelaide in July 1955.

216: Bedser broke Clarrie Grimmett's record of 216 wickets in his 46th Test when he dismissed Australia's Gil Langley at Headingley in July 1953.

189: Grimmett went past Sydney Barnes' record tally of 189 in his 35th Test by taking 10 for 88 against South Africa at Newlands in 1936.

142: Barnes overtook Hugh Trumble's 141 wickets in only his 23rd Test when took 10 for 105 against South Africa in Durban in December 1913.

119: Trumble beat Johnny Briggs' 119 wickets when he took 9 for 141 against England in Adelaide in 1904.

We'll stop the timeline at Briggs because he was the record holder at the turn of the 20th century and the record changed hands far too frequently before that.

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Parliament congratulates Murali

Following an alert by the JVP on Murali’s record, Deputy Speaker Geethanjana Gunawardena made a special statement in Parliament today conveying the warm wishes of all political parties to Test cricket’s greatest bowler Muttiah Muralitharan

Murali the greatest test bowler ever

Kandy, - SRI LANKA : Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan (C) reacts after breaking the world record tally of 708 wickets dismissing the unseen England cricketer Paul Collingwood during the third day of the first Test match at Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy, 03 December 2007. Muttiah Muralitharan broke Shane Warne's world record tally of 708 wickets as Sri Lanka sent England crashing in the first cricket Test. Muralitharan, who went into the match needing five wickets to become Test cricket's most successful bowler. AFP PHOTO

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