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Shane Warne never imagined his farewell to be so successful after he captured five wickets and became the first player to claim 700 Test scalps on the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test against England on Tuesday.

The leg-spinner was always going to be the star attraction after announcing he was retiring at the end of the series with the Ashes safely back in Australia’s hands, but the 37-year-old said he could not believe just how well things had gone.

Playing in front of a massive home-city crowd of nearly 90,000 at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Warne produced one of the finest days of his amazing career as Australia skittled out England for 159.

Warne clean bowled Andrew Strauss in his fourth over to reach 700 Test wickets and then added the scalps of Kevin Pietersen, Chris Read, Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar to finish with 5-39.

“Whoever writes my scripts is doing an unbelievable job,” he told a news conference. “I can’t stop shaking my head just believing it actually happened… it was a pretty amazing day,” he remarked.

Warne’s five-wicket haul was his 37th in Tests and while it was well short of his career-best figures of 8-71, the leg-spinner said it was still an unforgettable day.

Warne celebrated his 700th wicket by raising the ball aloft and almost set off on a lap of honour after collecting his fifth of the day to end the innings when he suddenly had a change of heart.

Warne said he was surprised to finish with so many wickets because of the state of the wicket and the overcast conditions, which kept the moisture in the pitch and suited the seamers. Warne, however, believes his record-breaking feats will be surpassed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.

Source:The News