Vettori made his test debut at Wellington for New Zealand against England on February 6 1997. His first Test wicket was Nasser Hussain. Three weeks earlier he had made his first class debut, against the touring English side and again his maiden wicket was Hussain. His ODI debut came a month later against Sri Lanka at Christchurch on March 25th 1997.

His career was in jeopardy in 2000 with a back injury, but he recovered to play a major role in New Zealand's victory in the 2004 Tri-Series with England and the West Indies in England.Vettori was recently selected in the final squad for the World XI super series against Australia. On 10 November 2005, Vettori was ranked 5th on the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders and 8th for one-day bowlers. Vettori has also played for Hamilton in the Hawke Cup.