Tim Southee claims maiden fifer as skipper, surpasses Daniel Vettori
New Zealand skipper Tim Southee claimed his 15th Test fifer in the ongoing opening clash versus Sri Lanka. The right-arm pacer returned with 5/64 as the visitors were folded for 355 while batting first. Notably, this was Southee's maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket as a skipper. He now also owns most wickets by a Kiwi bowler in international cricket. Here are his stats.
A stellar spell from Southee
NZ won the toss and opted to bowl at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. The visitors embraced the challenge as most of their specialist batters were among the runs. However, Southee chipped in with wickets at constant intervals to reduce the damage. He also removed set batters such as Kusal Mendis (87), Dhananjaya de Silva (46) and Dinesh Chandimal (39).
15th Test fifer for Southee
Southee has raced to 364 wickets in 93 Tests at 29.1 (5W: 15, 10W: 1). Among NZ bowlers, only Richard Hadlee (431) owns more Test wickets. England duo of James Anderson (685) and Stuart Broad (576) are the only active pacers with more Test wickets. Southee, who claimed his maiden Test fifer as a skipper, now boasts 17 wickets in five Tests as captain.
Most international wickets for a NZ bowler
Southee has now displaced former spinner Daniel Vettori as the NZ bowler with the most international wickets. Southee, who also has 210 ODI and 134 T20I wickets under his belt, now owns 708 wickets in 354 international appearances. Vettori finished his career with 705 wickets. Meanwhile, against Sri Lanka, Southee has raced to 58 wickets in 11 Tests at 17.62 (5W: 3).
How did Sri Lanka's innings pan out?
After opener Oshada Fernando (13) perished cheaply, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (50) and Mendis added 137 runs for the second wicket. Chandimal and Angelo Mathews (47) took over thereafter. De Silva and the tail-enders added some crucial runs as SL finished at 355. Besides Southee, fellow pacer Matt Henry also claimed four wickets. Off-spinner Michael Bracewell took a solitary wicket.
