Former India captain Rahul Dravid on Wednesday equalled Mark Waugh's world record of 181 Test catches when he caught Martin Guptill (14) at third slip off Zaheer Khan's bowling on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park.

Dravid reached the landmark in 132 Test matches four more than former Australian opener Waugh, who retired from international cricket in 2002.

Guptill's was the first wicket to fall in New Zealand first innings.

Dravid had a chance to erase Waugh's record but he grassed a catch offered by Daniel Vettori.

The New Zealand skipper was on 77 when he tried to put a Harbhajan Singh delivery over the slip cordon. The ball took a leading edge and flew to Dravid at slip, who was a bit slow to react and the chance was wasted.

Vettori went on to complete his century and along with Jesse Ryder, put on a record 186 runs for the seventh wicket that helped New Zealand to a respectable 279.