Paul Collingwood

kandy, Sri Lanka (reuters)

England's Paul Collingwood, who was dismissed to become Muttiah Muralitharan's record-breaking 709th wicket in Tests, hailed the Sri Lankan off-spinner's achievement.

Collingwood was bowled for 45 during the first session on day three of the opening Test, a dismissal that prompted wild celebrations in Muralitharan's hometown and saw the spinner eclipse the previous mark set by Australia's Shane Warne.

"I was surprised the off spinner did not turn," Collingwood told reporters of the delivery that skidded past his defences to knock back his off stump.

"It's obviously an amasing feat while it is not very nice being a victim. Maybe I will look back at my career I think I was his 709th," he added.

"How many wickets he will get I don't know - he is difficult to play."

Collingwood shared a 57-run stand with Ryan Sidebottom (31) that helped England build a 93-run lead.

"All the batsmen had good plans and Ryan proved that this morning, defending really well. To get that kind of total we were very happy."

Sri Lanka finished the day on 167 for two for a 74-run lead with eight wickets remaining.

"You can lose wickets in clusters and hopefully we can put them under pressure," Collingwood said.

Top wicket-takers

Following is a list of the leading wicket-takers in Tests after Muttiah Muralitharan overtook Shane Warne at the top of the list on Monday.

M. Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 709

Shane Warne (Australia) 708

Anil Kumble (India) 575

Glenn McGrath (Australia) 563

Courtney Walsh (WI) 519

Kapil Dev (India) 434

Richard Hadlee (New Zealand) 431

Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 416

Wasim Akram (Pakistan) 414

Curtly Ambrose (WI) 405