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The Galle international stadium was one of the most picturesque venues of cricket until it was destroyed by the dreadful tsunami which struck on 26th of Dec 2004. The entire south coast of Sri Lanka was destroyed in that calamity. It was located beside Galle Fort and surrounded by the Indian Ocean from two sides. Until the catastrophe, Galle stadium had been lucky in Sri Lanka. They have had a total of six wins along with 2 defeats in eleven matches. The majority of their winning was engineered by Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. He had taken total eighty seven wickets in those matches. It was famous with the name of ‘The esplanade’. This ground was facilitated by floodlights and hosted several days-night matches. The two main ends of the stadium are Fort end and City End. The total seating capacity of this sports ground was 35,000. It was built in the year 1876. At that time it was a race course. In year 1984, Mr. Dhanapala Lorensu Hewa proposed it for turf wicket. There were two pavilions: Galle cricket club pavilion and Mahinda Rajapkse pavilion. This is the stadium in which Muttiah Muralitharan achieved the milestone of 500th wicket and later 800th wicket.
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