New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori on Wednesday joined the likes of Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Shane Warne when he became only the eighth all-rounder in Test cricket's history to collect 3,000 runs and bag 300 wickets.
Vettori, who has 3,329 runs to his credit, claimed his 300th wicket when Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara's shot found Jacob Oram at the mid-wicket region on the first day of second and final Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.
This is the 30-year-old Vettori's 94th Test appearance.
Other cricketers to have achieved the milestone are Kapil Dev (Ind), Ian Botham (Eng), Richard Hadlee (NZ), Shaun Pollock (SA), Imran Khan (Pak), Shane Warne (Aus) and Chaminda Vaas (SL).
He is already the most successful left-arm spinner in history, having surpassed Englishman Derek Underwood's tally of 297 wickets in the first Test in Galle last week.
Sri Lanka elected to take first strike on a firm wicket that Vettori said "looked like a road" at the toss, after the start was delayed by 30 minutes due to a wet outfield caused by early morning rain.
Vettori, who began the match with 298 wickets, had left-handed opener Tharanga Paranavitana (19) edging his second delivery to Ross Taylor in the slips.
He was rewarded a second time during an unchanged 17-over spell when Sangakkara (50) pulled a short ball to mid-wicket where Oram took the catch and ran to his team-mates to join in the celebrations for their captain.
