Colombo: Half centuries by Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera put Sri Lanka in a strong position on a day when New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori became just the eighth player in history to achieve the double of 3000 test runs and 300 test wickets.

The left-arm spinner, who has scored 3,329 runs, claimed his 300th wicket when he dismissed his Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara in the afternoon session of the first day’s play.

Vettori, 30, joined a select band of all-rounder’s including Kapil Dev (India), Ian Botham (England), Richard Hadlee (New Zealand), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Shane Warne (Australia), Shaun Pollock (South Africa) and Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka).

He is already the most successful left-arm spinner in history, having surpassed England’s Derek Underwood’s tally of 297 wickets in the first Test in Galle last week.

“I still see myself as a bowler rather than an all-rounder,” said Vettori, playing his 94th Test. “As a spin bowler, I did not think a feat like this will happen, so it’s a very special feeling.”

Jayawardene and Samaraweera, though, made sure that that was the only moment of happiness for the Kiwis as they batted with a lot of maturity to take Sri Lanka to 262 for 3 at the end of Day 1. Jayawardene was unbeaten on 79 and Samaraweera was on 78, having shared a fourth-wicket stand of 147 after tight bowling by the Black Caps had kept the Sri Lankans on a tight leash.

“We were ideally looking at five wickets, but Mahela and Thilan are seasoned players and are at the top of their game,” Vettori said. “I hope our batsmen will take a leaf out of their book and put up a big score too.”

Vettori, who began the match with 298 wickets, got his first wicket of the day when he had left-handed opener Tharanga Paranavitana (19) edging his second delivery to Ross Taylor in the slips.

The hero of the last match, Tillakaratne Dilshan, looked completely out of sorts in this match in his lackluster innings of 29. Once Dilshan was dismissed, Sangakkara and Jayawardene then put on 40 runs for the third wicket before Vettori dismissed Sangakkara to reach the milestone.

Sangakkara, who made 50, pulled a short ball to mid-wicket where Jacob Oram took the catch and ran to his teammates to join in the celebrations for their captain.

Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss said he was delighted at the total so far. “When we lost three early wickets, I thought 300 was possible, but now it looks like 400,” he said. “Mahela and Thilan really did the job for us.”

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 262 for 3 (Mahela Jayawardene 79*, Samaraweera 78*, Vettori 2-65) v New Zealand

Tagged with: Chaminda Vaas, Colombo, Daniel Vettori, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, New Zealand, Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne, Shaun Pollock, Sri Lanka, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan

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