In the 2000s one player who consistently performed for New Zealand, be it in any format, was Daniel Vettori. The veteran all-rounder was influential for his team in the shortest format of the game. He was pivotal for the Kiwis for both his batting and bowling skills. In this article, we will take a look at the top 3 performances of Daniel Vettori in T20I cricket.
4/20 vs India, 2007
Daniel Vettori chose the perfect occasion to deliver his best bowling performance in T20I cricket. This bowling spell was delivered by Vettori against India in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. It was a close affair against the eventual champions of that tournament where Vettori’s performance proved to be decisive.
He picked up 4 wickets in his quota of overs conceding only 20 runs. He dismissed the likes of Gautam Gambhir, and Robin Uthappa among others to lead his team to a thrilling win.
3/6 vs Bangladesh, 2010
Daniel Vettori enjoyed operating against Bangladesh and he had substantial success against them. Here is another such performance where Vettori troubled Bangladesh with his bowling skills. At Hamilton, the two teams faced off in a T20I game where Bangladesh got annihilated by the Kiwis.
New Zealand wrapped up Bangladesh’s batting stint for a miserable total of 78 runs and the Kiwi captain had a crucial role to play in that collapse. He picked up 3 wickets to continue the domination of New Zealand in the first innings. Eventually, the home side comfortably chased the target with 10 wickets in hand.
38 vs Pakistan, 2010
Here is another T20 World Cup performance that gets a mention in this list. New Zealand clashed with Pakistan in the group stage of the 2010 T20 World Cup. Batting first New Zealand could not impress much as they could only post 133 runs. The Kiwis reached that score because of Daniel Vettori’s valuable contribution with the bat.
He scored 38 runs to stabilize the crumbling New Zealand batting order and guided his team to a fighting total. The Kiwis clinched the match in the end by a narrow margin of 1 run.