New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori has taken his 300th Test wicket, joining seven other players to have reached that milestone along with 3,000 Test runs.
Vettori claimed two wickets on Wednesday's opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka, snaring his 300th when opposing captain Kumar Sangakkara was caught by Jacob Oram for 50 runs.
The left arm orthodox bowler started the match with 298 Test wickets to his name, alongside his batting record of 3329 runs.
Vettori brought himself into the attack after just 10 overs of the Sri Lanka innings and had immediate success, with Tharanga Paranavitana edging the bowler's second ball of the day to Ross Taylor in the slips.
New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive Justin Vaughan - who was at the SSC ground to watch Vettori's success - congratulated the captain on an outstanding achievement.
"This is a huge honour for Dan - he can be rightfully proud of his record as a preeminent Test cricketer," said Vaughan.
"He is recognised as one of the most skilful left arm spinners on the international stage during recent times, and has proven himself as a resourceful batsman many times over.
"Dan is also an exceptional leader and one of the most intelligent and considered captains in the game.
"To have achieved to the standard of players of the calibre of Pollock, Botham and Khan, for example, speaks volumes for Dan's ability with both ball and bat.
"It's also an honour for New Zealand to be the only country with two players in that illustrious club."
Vettori is playing in his 94th Test match - one of these was for an ICC World XI - since making his debut at the age of 18 in 1997.
He is New Zealand's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, behind Hadlee who claimed 431 wickets in his career.
His best bowling innings to date is a haul of 7 for 87 against Australia at Auckland in March 2000 - a match in which also he took his top match figures of 12 for 149. He has achieved 18 five-wicket innings, and 3 10-wicket match returns. His current Test bowling average is 33.52.
Vettori's batting record includes three Test centuries and 20 half-centuries, with a highest score of 137 against Pakistan at Hamilton in December 2003.
Others to have reached the 3,000-300 milestone were Kapil Dev (India), Richard Hadlee (New Zealand), Ian Botham (England), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Shane Warne (Australia), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa).
Vettori joins 3000-300 club
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