Mother Lanka salutes Murali

Sri Lanka’s cricketing icon spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took a wicket with his final ball on home soil yesterday to set the stage for a thrilling victory in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.

The 38-year-old world record holder for test and one-day wickets will retire from international cricket after the tournament. “This was my last game at home and I got my last wicket with my last ball. The same thing happened to me in test cricket as well,” Murali said. Here members of the Sri Lankan team carry Murali at the packed R. Premadasa Stadium last night after Sri Lanka clinched its way to 2011 World Cup final in Muhali, India on Saturday. REUTERS