Trent Boult has etched his name into the annals of cricketing history, becoming the third-fastest in the world to achieve the milestone of 200 ODI wickets.
The left-arm fast bowler achieved the feat in just 107 matches when he dismissed Bangladesh’s Towhid Hridoy in Chennai during the Black Caps’ third match of the Cricket World Cup, which they won by eight wickets.
In a typically humble manner, Boult remarked on his achievement post-match, saying: “Yeah, I’m very proud of it. It’s come with a bit of hard work, and I’ve always enjoyed one-day cricket – there [have] been days where it’s been a lot more successful than others, but [it’s] a very good feeling to tick off 200 [wickets]. Third-fastest I hear, which is pretty exciting.”
Only Mitchell Starc (102 matches) for Australia and Saqlain Mushtaq (104) for Pakistan have done it faster than Boult, who also took the wicket of Litton Das with the first ball of the match against Bangladesh.
A concern for the Black Caps, though, will be the health of Kane Williamson after he was struck in the hand by an errant throw, retiring hurt on 78.
The skipper experienced a conflicting return this morning after more than six months on the sidelines, hitting a half-century to help the Black Caps earn an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh before retiring hurt late in the contest.
The 33-year-old had continued to bat for a few overs after receiving treatment, but with the Black Caps comfortably on track to overhaul Bangladesh’s 245-9, he made way to cloud what had been an encouraging — and much-anticipated — comeback appearance.
Williamson stroked eight boundaries and a six during his 107-ball stay, combining with Daryl Mitchell (89no off 67) in an unbroken match-winning stand of 108. He was occasionally unsteady when running between the wickets but lacked nothing in timing with the bat, accumulating easily all around the ground
Williamson had earlier fielded for 50 overs without incident in his first official match since rupturing his ACL more than six months ago, as Lockie Ferguson (3-49) led a pace attack that effectively utilised bounce to set up a third straight victory.
After facing Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Black Caps enter the segment of the schedule that will determine their semifinal fate, starting with a showdown against hosts India next Saturday.
Now a third of the way through the group stage, Gary Stead’s side appear strong contenders to reach the knockout round for a sixth straight white-ball World Cup, though may now be sweating once more on Williamson.
