Cricket: Fitting display marks milestone

Daniel Vettori marked the first day of his 100th test with four wickets and a run out. Photo / Getty Images

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There was an air of dignity and determination about Daniel Vettori as he strode out to the toss in his silver fern-embossed black blazer for his 100th test match at his home ground of Seddon Park.

Nothing had altered in his demeanour as he returned past the boundary rope later - with Australia dismissed for 231 and the scoreboard showing DL Vettori had taken four for 36 from his 19.3 overs.

The exhibition of such qualities is nothing unusual from the national cricket captain.

It has been the case since he first donned the black cap against England in February 1997.

Those watching the then 18-year-old in that first test may well have felt more angst than he did.

Little has changed. The face, albeit more hirsute, continues to remain impassive and the nerves are seemingly impenetrable.

He accepted plaudits on his achievement gracefully: a television interview here, another series of handshakes there.

The tributes flowed, reflecting on a career which will eventually land him in the pantheon of New Zealand cricketing heroes among names such as Sutcliffe, Reid, Hadlee, Crowe and Fleming.

Fittingly, you suspect Vettori got the one thing he was really after on the day of his latest milestone - and it wasn't the toss. That went to Ricky Ponting for his eighth consecutive time.

No, Vettori was gifted a New Zealand team which had summoned up the courage to compete after taking a 10-wicket pasting at the hands of Australia in Wellington.

Goodness knows what he's been saying in team meetings of late but it must be a hard sell when you've lost exactly half your 26 completed tests in charge and have led from the front through your own performance. That pain was alleviated somewhat yesterday.

"I couldn't really have asked for too much more from the day's play," Vettori said. "To step up on a good wicket after only being able to take five wickets at the Basin was impressive.

"It was a pretty normal day for me, though. I tried to put the emotion of the 100th test aside. I wasn't too worried."

As part of the script Vettori claimed the second and arguably most important Australian wicket, Ponting, run out.

His opposing skipper hit the ball to Vettori's dominant left hand. Presumably through an oversight, Ponting ran with the shot and was caught a foot short. Exacerbating the situation was the fact Ponting went in similar fashion last week.

The glory didn't end there for Vettori. He led with confidence. His fielders were alert, chirpy and ready to snaffle anything; his bowlers delivered with rhythm, control but perhaps not as much swing as they would have liked.

He marshalled his troops around the bat off his own bowling, willing the Australians to feel some of the pressure he's faced carrying this Black Caps side for months.

His bowling seemed to produce the most turn for some time, perhaps taking some purchase from the dampness of the wicket early on. Like Tim Southee, he appeared to revel in front of home fans using his usual canny mix of flight, drift and the occasional arm ball to keep batsmen guessing.

The removal of Simon Katich executed what looked like a carefully devised plan which had constantly drawn the opener to the offside before he pushed a straighter delivery down the line of his pads. Katich obliged by miscuing to short leg where BJ Watling lay crouched in wait.

"Vettori's a world class bowler," Katich said. "He changes his pace beautifully and uses the breeze to his advantage but there wasn't a huge amount of spin in the wicket. His captaincy was excellent too. He used his bowlers for short spells and had different plans for each batsman."

Vettori reaped further benefit from his team-mates when Tim McIntosh held on to a difficult chance at silly point from a Mitchell Johnson forward defence. The skipper then played a lone hand in the rest of the damage, getting a ball to straighten into Ryan Harris' pads and going through the gate of Doug Bollinger.

Just as the Vettori legend has continued to grow, so did the respectful distance his team-mates left for him as they applauded him off the park.