Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan requires just five wickets in Saturday's Kandy Test to go past Shane Warne’s world record tally of 708 Test victims.

He has the chance to take all five in the first Test on his home ground, where he has taken 108 of his 704 Test wickets. That’s 15 percent of his total haul.

Meantime, Sri Lanka have left out Upul Tharanga for the first Test against England starting in Kandy on Saturday despite his century this week against the touring Englishmen.

Tharanga, dropped for the Australia tour after some disappointing form, was expected to earn a recall and open with Michael Vandort against England after the retirement of Marvan Atapattu but instead Sri Lanka have opted to promote veteran Sanath Jayasuriya back up the order.

Tharanga, 22, played outstandingly well for the Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI in their two warm-up matches against England, making 112 and 86 but they were still not enough for a recall.

“He had a very lean period, then scored some useful runs in the last few games which is great for him but he will have to be a bit more patient,” Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said.