New Zealand’s Neil Wagner Completes 200 wickets in Test cricket
Left-arm quick Neil Wagner completed 200 Test wickets for New Zealand in the second Test played against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). He became the second quickest to reach 200 Test wickets after Sir Richard Hadlee. He dismissed Australia’s premier batsman Steven Smith in the second innings to reach the milestone.
The 33-year old completed 200 wickets in 46th Test, whereas Richard Hadlee had taken only 44 Tests to reach the milestone for New Zealand. Third on the list is Wagner’s pace colleague Trent Boult, who completed 200 wickets in 52 matches. On the other hand, Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns and Pacer Tim Southee have reached their milestone in 58th and 56th Tests respectively.
Neil Wagner is the second quickest left-arm bowler to complete 200 wickets in Test cricket. India’s slow orthodox spinner Ravendra Jadeja holds the distinction as he completed 200 scalps in 44 Test matches. Left-arm quick is currently leading wicket taker for New Zealand in the ongoing Test series against Australia with 13 scalps so far. Due to impressive form with the ball in hand, he has moved to third place in the ICC Test Rankings for Bowlers.
New Zealand are currently well behind the game in the second game of the series against Australia. Tim Paine-led unit have already taken a massive lead of 456 runs, and are currently placed at 137 for 4 in their second innings against New Zealand.
Wagner has really bowled splendidly during this series after Trent Boult has missed the second game of the series. Boult has suffered from an injury and has ruled out of the third Test against Australia, which is a big setback for New Zealand.
He sustained the injury after he struck on the glove by a vicious bouncer from Mitchell Starc in the New Zealand’s innings on Day three of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
