Muttiah Muralitharan took his 450th Test wicket and a five-wicket haul for a record 37th time on Wednesday, but could not prevent the final Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand petering out into a draw.

Muralitharan led a Sri Lankan fightback with the ball, bowling out New Zealand for 183 after lunch on the final day. But the 191 runs they needed to win off 38 overs proved too high a target.

Hard-hitting opener Sanath Jayasuriya sacrificed his wicket in the pursuit of victory but the two captains called off the game seven overs early with Sri Lanka on 72 for one.

Both Tests in the series were drawn.

Kumar Sangakkara, who opened the innings in place of Marvan Atapattu, was unbeaten on 27 batting with Mahela Jayawardene on 32.

Muralitharan set his record and reached 450 test wickets when Daryl Tuffey top edged a sweep and was caught at deep square.

The off-spinner, who wants to take 600 Test wickets before he retires, overtook former New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee for the record.

The 30-year-old, cheered on by a boisterous hometown crowd, finished with five for 49 from 39 overs and a match bag of nine for 139.

DELAYED START

The game always looked set for a draw after a waterlogged outfield delayed the start, but it burst into life when Sri Lanka took six wickets for 52 runs in the final morning.

New Zealand had started the day 99 runs ahead, on 92 for one, hoping to extend their lead before an afternoon declaration.

However, the visitors lost their way after the early departure of Mark Richardson, who added only four runs to his overnight 51 before edging behind.

Next over, Muralitharan deceived Mathew Sinclair with an arm ball that fizzed past the outside edge, dismissing the right-hander for a duck.

Forced on to the defensive, Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris tried to consolidate, adding just five runs in 44 minutes.

When Styris lobbed up a catch to mid-on having mistimed a leg-side push off Chamindar Vaas, New Zealand were 115 for four having lost three wickets for just six runs.

Fleming, who scored a duck in the first innings after compiling 343 runs in the first test in Colombo, provided stubborn resistance.

But the left-hander was finally caught behind off Kumar Dharmasena for 33.

Soon after, Muralitharan snared Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori and New Zealand were reeling on 139 for seven.

However, a 40-run stand in 28.1 overs after the interval between Robbie Hart and Paul Wiseman stalled the Sri Lankans.

Vaas eventually wrapped up the innings with both Hart and Wiseman edging catches behind, but that left Sri Lanka with too few overs to chase their target.

The two sides now travel to Dambulla where they start a triangular series involving Pakistan on Saturday.

Scorebaord

New Zealand (1st innings): 305 (J.Oram 74, M.Richardson 55, D.Vettori 55)

Sri Lanka (1st innings): 298 (H.Tillakaratne 93, S.Jayasuriya 82)

New Zealand (2nd innings): (overnight 92-1)

M.Richardson c Kaluwitharana b Nissanka 55

M.Horne c Tillakaratne b Muralitharan 27

S.Fleming c Kaluwitharan b Dharmasena 33

M.Sinclair st Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 0

S.Styris c Muralitharan b Vaas 1

J.Oram lbw Muralitharan 16

R.Hart c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 12

D.Vettori b Muralitharan 0

P.Wiseman c Tillakaratne b Vaas 29

D.Tuffey c Jayasuriya b Muralitharan 1

S.Bond not out 1.

Extras: (b-1 lb-6 nb-1) 8

Total: (all out, 97.3 overs) 183

Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-109, 3-110, 4-115, 5-136, 6-139, 7-139, 8-179, 9-182, 10-183.

Bowling: Vaas 15.3-6-31-3, Nissanka 10-4-18-1, Dharmasena 12-2-32-1, Lokuarachchi 14-3-26-0, Muralitharan 39-18-49-5 (nb-1), Jayasuriya 7-0-20-0.

Sri Lanka (2nd innings):

K.Sangakkara not out 27

S.Jayasuriya c Richardson b Bond 9

M.Jayawardene not out 32

Extras: (lb-4) 4

Total: (for one wicket, 30 overs) 72

Did not bat: M.Atapattu, H.Tillakaratne, R.Kaluwitharana, Dharmasena , Lokuarachchi, C.Vaas, P.Nissanka, M.Muralitharan.

Fall of wicket: 1-14

Bowling: Tuffey 9-3-18-0, Bond 6-1-19-1, Wiseman 9-4-20-0, 6-1-11-0

Result: Match drawn

Result of first Test: Drawn

Series: Drawn

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