Cricket: Kapil eclipses Hadlee as leading wicket-taker

Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90-1

KAPIL DEV, the Indian all- rounder, broke Sir Richard Hadlee's record yesterday to become Test cricket's highest wicket-taker.

On the first day of the third Test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad, the 35-year-old Kapil enduced Hashan Tillakaratne to edge a catch to Sanjay Manjrekar at forward short-leg, an hour into the game. The dismissal took him to 432 wickets in his 130th Test match.

Kapil intends to try to reach at least 450 Test wickets before retiring. Asked how long he would continue to play, he said: 'As long as I am fit and enjoy the game, and I can put 100 per cent into it.'

New Zealand's Hadlee said: 'It's a marvellous performance, although in some ways it's sad. It's a very special moment for Kapil Dev and for world cricket and we should enjoy the moment for Kapil as well.'

When the all-important wicket fell, Kapil earned a standing ovation for a full minute from banner-waving supporters before play could resume. He has also scored more than 5,000 Test runs, and he equalled Hadlee's bowling record in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Bangalore last month. He made his debut at the age of 19 against Pakistan in 1978.

Hadlee, who took his wickets in far fewer Tests (86), added: 'Probably in 10 years someone will go beyond Kapil and the way that Shane Warne is going at the moment he could . . . be the first to get 500.'

India, seeking a 3-0 series victory, lost the toss but dismissed the tourists for 119, before closing on 90 for 1. The left-arm spinner, Venkatapathy Raju, took 5 for 38, with support coming from the off-spinner, Rajesh Chauhan, who took 3 for 8.

The only resistance came from the No 10 batsman, Pramodya Wickramasinghe, who was the top scorer with 22 before being stumped by Nayan Mongia. Sri Lanka managed to dismiss Manoj Prabhakar, bowled by Don Anurasiri for 14, when India replied.

(First day: Sri Lanka won toss)

SRI LANKA - First Innings

R S Mahanama lbw b Kumble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 D P Samaraweera b Chauhan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 H P Tillakaratne c Manjrekar b Kapil. . . . . . . . . . . 5 P A De Silva lbw Raju. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 * A Ranatunga c Azharuddin b Raju. . . . . . . . . . . . 15 M S Atapattu b Chauhan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 R S Kalpage c Azharuddin b Chauhan. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 P Dissanayake c Kambli b Raju. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 S D Anurasiri b Raju. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 G P Wickramasinghe st Mongia b Raju. . . . . . . . . . . 22 M Muralitharan not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Extras (lb7 b8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Fall: 1-34 2-39 3-47 4-59 5-59 6-71 7-79 8-89 9-108.

Bowling: Prabhakar 5-0-13-0; Kapil Dev 9-4-15-1; Kumble 15-3-30-1; Venkatapathy Raju 23.5-7-38-5; Chauhan 11-8-8-3.

INDIA - First Innings

M Prabhakar b Anurasiri. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 N S Sidhu not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 V G Kambli not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Extras (lb2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Total (for 1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Fall: 1-27.

To bat: S R Tendulkar, * M Azharuddin, S V Manjrekar, Kapil Dev, N R Mongia, A Kumble, R K Chauhan, Venkatapathy Raju.

----------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD'S LEADING TEST WICKET-TAKERS ----------------------------------------------------------------- M W 5wi 10wm BB Kapil Dev (Ind) 130 432 23 2 9-83 R J Hadlee (NZ) 86 431 36 9 9-52 I T Botham (Eng) 102 383 27 4 8-34 M D Marshall (WI) 81 376 22 4 7-22 Imran Khan (Pak) 88 362 23 6 8-58 D K Lillee (Aus) 70 355 23 7 7-81 R G D Willis (Eng) 90 325 16 0 8-43 L R Gibbs (WI) 79 309 18 2 8-38 F S Trueman (Eng) 67 307 17 3 8-31 -----------------------------------------------------------------

(Photograph omitted)