By Rob Hodgetts

Muralitharan joined fellow spinner Shane Warne on 708 Test wickets

Muttiah Muralitharan claimed four victims to equal Shane Warne's Test wicket record as England slid to 186-6 against Sri Lanka in the first Test.

Muralitharan joined fellow spinner Warne on 708 wickets but was hampered in his quest to clinch the record as rain brought an early end to day two.

Ian Bell (83) and Michael Vaughan (37) shared a second-wicket stand of 107.

But Muralitharan's 4-30 turned the match on its head as England lost five wickets for 78 runs.

Interview: Ian Bell

The visitors were in a strong position after skittling Sri Lanka for 188 on day one and Bell and Vaughan played beautifully for most of the morning as England sought to press home their advantage.

Bell resumed on 36 with Vaughan on 13 but the captain made no secret of his disbelief after being given out to a dubious catch at silly point from Chamara Silva off Muralitharan after TV replays suggested the ball bounced up off his pads.

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The bemused Vaughan walked off with 37 but the in-form Bell forged on towards his seventh Test century before falling to a sharp catch by Silva at short midwicket off Muralitharan for 83 off 125 balls including 12 fours.

England edged to 145-3 at lunch but Muralitharan struck again shortly afterwards to trap Kevin Pietersen lbw after a promising knock of 31.

But the fireworks really began in the 59th over.

Kandy local Muralitharan had two big appeals turned down, one against Paul Collingwood in an almost carbon copy of the Vaughan dismissal and another against Ravi Bopara when a close catch was deemed to have hit the ground after leaving the bat.

But it was third time lucky for Murali as his next appeal in the same over was rewarded with the record-equalling scalp of Bopara, who edged a ball down the leg side into the hands of wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene for eight.

The home crowd were desperate to see their favourite break the record and the atmosphere built as England nervously saw out Muralitharan's next few overs.

But Fernando struck shortly after to remove Matt Prior for a duck to leave England two short of Sri Lanka's total before the umpires decided the persistent light drizzle had become too heavy.