New Zealand is one of the countries that has been providing some of the best fast bowlers to the world. The main reason is that the country offers pitches (green pitches) that suit the seamers. It means that the surface is suitable for swing and fast bowling. Due to their excellent bowling performance, they won the ICC World Test Championship. Here we will be looking at the top ten New Zealand bowlers with the most significant number of international wickets.
10. Chris Martin
Chris Martin is a former right-arm medium-fast bowler of New Zealand who played provincial cricket for Auckland and Canterbury Wizards. Martin is one of the seven New Zealand bowlers who have taken 200 plus test wickets. He was a World Cup 2007 New Zealand squad member to replace Daryl Tuffey. Chris is in the tenth position on the list with 258 International wickets.
9. Shane Bond
Shane Bond is a former right-arm fast bowler of New Zealand who recorded his most rapid delivery of 156.3 km/hr against India in the 2003 World Cup. Bond has the second-best bowling strike rate in Test cricket (amongst bowlers who have bowled at least 2500 balls) after Lohmann. Shane is in the ninth position on the list with 259 International wickets.
8. Ewen Chatfield
Ewen Chatfield is a former right-arm medium-fast bowler of New Zealand who played 43 tests and 114 ODIs between 1975 and 1989. Ewen was excellent in his accuracy and consistency in line and bowling length. He is famous for being hit in the head by a ball while batting, causing him to collapse and need immediate resuscitation. Ewen is in the eighth position on the list with 263 International wickets.
7. Danny Morrison
Danny Morrison is a former right-arm medium-fast bowler of New Zealand who made his test debut in 1987 against Australia at 21. Morrison was a useful outswing bowler and played for his nation from 1987 to 1997. Danny is one of the three New Zealand bowlers that have taken a hat-trick in ODIs. He is in the seventh position on the list with 286 International wickets.
6. Kyle Mills
Kyle Mills is a former right-arm medium-fast bowler who played from 2001 to 2015 for New Zealand. Kyle is the current bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders and was also a member of New Zealand’s first T20I team. Mills topped the ICC ODI bowling rankings in 2009 and is also the leading wicket-taker of New Zealand among fast bowlers. Kyle is in the sixth position on the list with 327 International wickets.
5. Chris Cairns
Chris Cairns is a former right-arm fast bowler who played as an all-rounder for New Zealand from 1989 to 2006. In 1999, he became the first batsman to score a century in his 100th ODI in a winning cause. As a batter, he has scored nine international centuries. Chris is in the fifth position on the list with 420 International wickets.
4. Trent Boult
Trent Boult is a current left-arm medium-fast bowler who made his international debut for New Zealand on 9 December 2011 against Australia. In World Cup 2019, he became the third New Zealand bowler to take a hat-trick in ODIs and the first New Zealander to take a hat-trick in a World Cup match. Boult plays for Mumbai in the IPL. He is in the fourth position on the list with 507 International wickets.
3. Richard Hadlee
Richard Hadlee is a former bowling all-rounder who was a right-arm fast bowler and played from 1973 to 1990 for New Zealand. Hadlee was the first cricketer to complete the double of scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in ODI cricket. He took ten wickets in a test match nine times with the best bowling figure of 15/123 against Australia in 1985. Richard is in the third position on the list with 589 International wickets.
2. Tim Southee
Tim Southee is a right-arm medium-fast bowler who has played in all formats from 2008 for the New Zealand cricket team and is the current leading wicket-taker of the country among fast bowlers. In World Cup 2015, he took seven wickets against England with the bowling figure 7/33, which became Wisden’s ODI spell of the decade. Southee is in the second position on the list with 605 International wickets.
1. Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori is a former left-arm orthodox bowler who made his debut for New Zealand in 1997 at 18, becoming the youngest player of his nation and played for his country from 1997 to 2015. Currently, New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs retired from all forms of cricket after the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He is in the first position on the list with 705 International wickets.
