On day three of the ongoing Wellington Test against India, the 31-year-old right-arm pacer Tim Southee became the first New Zealand bowler to claim 300 international wickets on home soil.
Till the stumps of the third day of the Wellington Test, Kiwi pacer Southee has already taken five wickets in this match. In the first innings of the game, Southee picked up four wickets as he had the bowling figures of 20.1-5-49-4. It was the second-best bowling figures in that innings (best was Kyle Jamieson 16-3-39-4) while the Indian team was bundled out for just 165 runs.
After managing the 183-run lead at the end of their first innings (New Zealand 348), the hosts’ bowlers were again delivering goods against the Indian batsmen. While India scored 144/4 at the stumps of day three, the left-arm pacer Trent Boult (3/27) has taken three wickets, and Tim Southee (1/41) picked a solitary.
On the third day of this Test, Southee only dismissed the set Indian opening batsman Mayank Agarwal, who scored 58 runs before losing his wicket. By taking that wicket, Southee not only became the most international wicket-taker for New Zealand at home, but he also became the first Kiwi bowler to claim 300 international wickets at home.
Former left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori was the previous most international wicket-taker at home for New Zealand with 299 wickets.
Top five Kiwi bowlers with most international wickets at home
| Player | Wickets |
| Tim Southee | 300 |
| Daniel Vettori | 299 |
| Trent Boult | 277 |
| Sir Richard Hadlee | 250 |
| Chris Cairns | 204 |
On the other hand, Southee also became the 11th pacer and 18th bowler to take 300 international wickets at home. Southee reached this milestone in his 153rd home international match.
Tim Southee is also New Zealand’s second-most Test wicket-taker at home:
Also, during this ongoing Wellington Test match, Southee became the second most Test wicket-taker at home for New Zealand after surpassing Daniel Vettori (159 wickets) again. While Southee has taken 162 home Test wickets, only Sir Richard Hadlee is now ahead of him in this list with 201 home Test wickets.
At present, Southee is the third most wicket-taker for New Zealand in international cricket history. While the right-arm pacer has taken 543 international wickets, only Daniel Vettori (696 wickets) and Sir Richard Hadlee (589 wickets) are ahead of him in this list.