Milestone and a glaring miss as Boult joins elite company
The Body Issue
ESPN The Magazine He made his test debut in Hobart in 2011 when senior statesman Daniel Vettori was a late withdrawal through injury.
Nearly eight years on from that memorable victory over Australia, Trent Boult joined Vettori and Sir Richard Hadlee in New Zealand cricket’s exclusive 250-wicket club half a world away in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Black Caps’ pace spearhead claimed Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews as his milestone wicket, early on day two of the second test at P Saravanamuttu Stadium.
And a rollicking first session it was, with Boult snaring two wickets in five balls to rock the hosts, before dropping one of the easiest return catches ever offered at test level.
Dhananjaya de Silva, on nine, was the beneficiary as his gentle leading edge was, somehow, grassed by one of world cricket’s best fielders.
Apart from obvious shock value it didn’t detract from Boult’s achievement, which saw New Zealand roar back into the test they need to win to level the series and open their World Test Championship account with 60 points.
At lunch, Sri Lanka were 144-6, having resumed in good shape on 85-2 then lost 4-37 in a mini collapse sparked by Boult, a month past his 30th birthday.
In his 63rd test, the left-armer fired down seven wicketless overs on day one before he sparked up the second day with a double strike. Mathews (2) departed when he edged an attempted hook, then Kusal Perera followed in the same over for a fourth-ball duck.
Hadlee, who ended with a phenomenal 431 wickets from 86 tests, reached 250 in his 53rd test against Pakistan in Dunedin in 1985. Vettori took 81 tests to snare his 250th, against England at Lord’s in 2008.
Boult fits somewhere in between, with his 63 tests ranking him a handy 26th on the ‘‘fewest matches to 250 list’’. He got there quicker than Kapil Dev (65), Makhaya Ntini (65), Jimmy Anderson (67) and Jason Gillespie (68), and was just shy of Australian speedsters Brett Lee and Craig Mcdermott (both 62 tests).
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin heads that list, taking a remarkable 45 tests to claim 250 wickets, ahead of fast bowling legends Dennis Lillee (48) and Dale Steyn (49), with Hadlee (53) seventh.
Boult’s mate and new ball partner Tim Southee wasn’t far off joining the 250 club, either, having started his 67th test on 245 wickets.
He joined the fun late in the session, too.
Southee had a miserly but wicketless 12 overs on day one then, following Boult’s lead, produced his own double strike to remove Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella in four deliveries.
Karunaratne was the big wicket, after captain Kane Williamson gave him a reprieve on 61. Southee removed the Galle test centurymaker caught behind for 65, then enticed a false shot from Dickwella.