Chris Cairns placed himself among cricket's finest all-rounders during New Zealand's nine-wicket win over South Africa on Monday. Cairns became the sixth player in Test history to take 200 wickets and score 3,000 runs.
He passed the run mark with his 158 in New Zealand's first innings.
Three wickets on the final day ensured he joined greats Sir Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Sir Richard Hadlee.
The 33-year-old only returned to Test cricket in December after suffering a crippling knee injury two years ago, and said he felt lucky to be playing Test matches again.
"The best way to be measured is against your peers, the all-round fraternity," Cairns said after his epic batting display.
 |  It's just nice to go to Wellington without anything on my mind |
"I suppose when you start to talk about Sobers, along with Kapil, Imran, Sir Richard and my favourite of all, Ian Botham, and you name goes alongside those guys it's quite humbling, and probably quite surreal.
"I think throughout my career I've always been someone who said personal milestones only stack up if you win the game and so for me this has extra special meaning."
New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming said he hoped Cairns would remain injury-free for the remainder of his international career.
"We just hope now he'll hang on for some time with the results he's getting and the milestones he's passing, which put him in the top league," he added.
South African Shaun Pollock is also knocking at the door of the 3,000-200 club, needing another 102 runs to go with his 334 wickets.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
