Birthday special: Daniel Vettori’s five best bowling spell in subcontinent
Daniel Vettori is a name that will forever be etched in New Zealand cricketing folklore. In a career that spanned more than a decade and a half, the spectacled spin bowling wizard carved a niche for himself with his relentless accuracy and his unmatched guile.
The legendary left-arm spinner is the highest wicket-taker for New Zealand in the ODI format and has picked up 297 wickets from 291 ODI games. In the whites, Vettori is New Zealand’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests (362), only behind Sir Richard Hadlee. With him celebrating his 42nd birthday today, let us take a look at the top five bowling spells of Vettori in Asia.
5) 6/127 vs India (Tests)
Vettori gave Indian batsmen a glimpse of his magic in Kanpur in the year 1999. New Zealand batted first and posted 256 runs on the board. In reply, the Indian side was coasting at 243/2 when Vettori decided to wreak havoc. The left-arm spinner scalped the prized wickets of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly to completely change the momentum of the game. He also polished off India’s lower order, picking up the wickets of MSK Prasad, Sunil Joshi and Anil Kumble to record figures of 6/127. However, Anil Kumble’s accuracy proved too good for New Zealand, as the Indian spinner picked up 6 wickets in the second innings, and India romped home with 8 wickets to spare.
4) 6/64 vs Sri Lanka (Tests)
This is another bowling spell from Vettori that stunned many before the turn of the millennium. In the year 1998, New Zealand locked horns with Sri Lanka in Colombo. Sri Lanka batted first and posted 206 runs on the board. In reply, New Zealand were shot out for just 193. In Sri Lanka’s second innings, while the other kiwi bowlers struggled to pick wickets at regular intervals, Vettori was just unplayable. He recorded scintillating figures of 6/64, as the hosts were bowled out for 282. However, Vettori’s heroics went in vain, as Sri Lanka won the match by 164 runs.
3) 4/14 vs Sri Lanka (ODIs)
On 19th May 2003, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in a roller coaster encounter in Dambulla, and once again the catalyst of the triumph was Vettori. New Zealand batted first and scored just 156 in their allotted 50 overs. Any hopes of an easy Sri Lankan win went up in smoke, as Vettori ripped through the Sri Lankan batting line up. The spin bowling legend bowled 10 overs, gave away just 14 runs, and picked up 4 wickets, including the prized scalps of Kumar Sangakkara and Marvan Attapattu, as Sri Lanka fell short of the target by just 9 runs. And, needless to say, Vettori walked away with the ‘Man of the Match’ award.
2) 6/70 vs Bangladesh (Tests)
This was a match in Chittagong, where New Zealand gave an absolute thrashing to Bangladesh, and Vettori played a central role in it. The Black Caps batted first and piled up a massive total of 545 runs on the board. In reply, Bangladesh succumbed to Vettori’s guile. The spin bowling maestro recorded superb figures of 6/70 in the first innings as Bangladesh were bowled out for just 182. The hosts were asked to follow on, and in the second innings too, it was Vettori who was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up 6 wickets, as Bangladesh went down in the game by an innings and 101 runs.
1) 6/28 vs Bangladesh (Tests)
Let us go 16 years back in time to relive this spell from Vettori. In October 2004, the kiwi spinner made life miserable for the Bangladesh batsmen in Dhaka. At the end of the first innings, the Bangladesh side was still trailing the kiwi total by 225 runs, and an innings defeat loomed large for the Tigers. And, their worst fears came true when Vettori made the ball dance to his tunes in the second innings. The left-arm spinner bowled 22 overs, gave away just 28 runs and scalped 6 wickets, as Bangladesh were shot out for just 126 runs and suffered a humiliating innings defeat on home soil.
