Daniel Vettori became the 12th player to take 300 one-day international wickets as New Zealand eased to a six-wicket victory against Afghanistan . The 36-year-old , who took an impressive 4-18 , is the first New Zealander to pass the landmark and now sits in the esteemed company of greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan , Wasim Akram and Glenn McGrath . Afghanistan required a seventh-wicket partnership of 86 between Najibullah Zadran and Samiullah Shenwari to post a respectable 186 all out , having chosen to bat , but a 19-ball 42 from Brendon McCullum ensured there would be no shock in Napier . Daniel Vettori became the 12th player to take 300 one-day international wickets . Vettori of New Zealand celebrates taking the wicket of Afsar Zazai of Afghanistan at the Cricket World Cup . Vettori celebrates with Brendon McCullum after taking the wicket of Zazai during the Cricket World Cup match . Perhaps a mark of the man and an added insight into the where the focus of the team remains , Vettori said the landmark was something he would think about after the World Cup . 'Right now we are caught up in the middle of a World Cup , ' he said . 'We have an important game on Friday ( group game against Bangladesh ) , and then probably the most important of our careers the following Saturday ( quarter-final ) . 'Maybe in a month , it will be the time to look back on it . I did n't go into the World Cup thinking about that milestone , I did n't believe I would take this many wickets in this few games . ' Understandably stung from being smashed for a record-breaking 417 runs by Australia in Perth days earlier , Mohammad Nabi chose to bat after calling correctly at the toss . Afghanistan were made to pay for a choice that signaled a slight naivety within the camp , with their own coaching staff having previously admitted that bowling was the side 's strong suit . The newcomers to the World Cup stage collapsed to 34-3 and then 59-6 , as Vettori caused most of the damage after Trent Boult had Javed Ahmadi trapped lbw for just one . McCullum has developed into an imposing captain , known for his ingenuity and outrageously attacking fields – so his decision to bowl his spinner in just the third over was met with mild surprise . The decision was less genius and more to allow New Zealand 's opening bowlers , Tim Southee and Boult , to switch ends . The 36-year-old is the first New Zealander to pass the landmark of 300 ODI wickets . New Zealand eased to a six-wicket win over Afghanistan at the Cricket World Cup on Sunday . He now sits in the company of greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan , Wasim Akram and Glenn McGrath . Vettori of New Zealand speaks at a post-match press conference following their Cricket World Cup win . Still , Vettori showed that he 's as accurate in the third over as in the 15th as he struck with his first ball . Usman Ghani lost sight of the ball and saw his off stump disturbed . With his opening strike bowlers having switched ends , McCullum resumed the pace attack , and Asghar Stanikzai could only send a short ball from Boult into the geelful clutches of Martin Guptil . Southee , struggling with his line and length , was replaced by Vettori , who took No.300 by bowling Nawroz Mangal for 27 with the first ball of his third over . The Auckland-born spinner was on a roll and had Nabi ( 6 ) and Afsar Zazai dismissed off consecutive balls . Nabi was caught at slip , while Zazai was trapped leg before . That brought Najibullah to the crease for the hat-trick ball , and the batsman was welcomed by the sight of nine men around his bat , with no fielder outside the circle . However , he survived and showed maturity beyond his years in his partnership with Shenwari before departing after a run-a-ball 56 that ended when he top-edged a short and wide bouncer from Adam Milne to Vettori at third man . New Zealand 's Ross Taylor gets a handshake from Afghanistan 's Hamid Hassan ( left ) after the match . New Zealand are very much on course to end their World Cup victory drought . Shenwari , undoubtedly Afghanistan 's best batsman in this tournament , was the anchor of his side 's innings , and he made 54 off 110 balls before falling to Corey Anderson . An entertaining cameo from Hamid Hassan ( 16 off 21 ) took Afghanistan to 186 , but for the fifth consecutive World Cup match New Zealand bowled out their opposition . The number of orange target T-shirts seemed to double after the resumption of play with the crowd undoubtedly expecting McCullum to send a few balls into the stand and help them earn a share of the pot of money for the 'one-handed crowd catch ' promotion . But McCullum cleared the rope just once in his innings before being bowled by Nabi with one that kept a touch low . His departure unsurprisingly slowed the run chase , and when Kane Williamson picked out midwicket off Shapoor Zardan for 33 , the Afghans believed they had a chance . Two comical run-outs saw Martin Guptill ( 57 ) and Grant Elliott ( 19 ) further add to the nerves of the McLean Park crowd , but Ross Taylor , the birthday boy , held his nerve to steer New Zealand home . The same side , the same outcome , the same feeling after the match – New Zealand are very much on course to end their World Cup victory drought .
Daniel Vettori became just the 12th player to take six ODI wickets . The 36-year-old is the first New Zealander to pass the landmark . He took 4-18 to earn his place among greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan . New Zealand eased to a 300-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Napier .