Colin enters test record books
Caribbean.
Still atop the world list is former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum with his 54-ball blitz against Australia in his 2016 farewell test in Christchurch. But de Grandhomme, a man of few words who looked utterly bemused by what he’d done, pushed into second ahead of two more McCullum gems: 74 balls against Sri Lanka and 78 against Pakistan.
‘‘Nah, he’ll always be faster than me,’’ de Grandhomme said of McCullum.
De Grandhomme, the 31-yearold Zimbabwean whose previous best in six tests was 57 against South Africa in March, strode out at the perfect time. New Zealand were 272-5, already leading by 138 and looking to bury the West Indies on a belter of a pitch after Ross Taylor scored 93.
‘‘There wasn’t any instructions: just do what I do. The boys did the hard work and made it a lot easier for me,’’ he said.
‘‘It helps hitting a couple of boundaries early. But they were there to go so I had to put them away.’’
De Grandhomme belted his second and third deliveries from West Indies seamer Miguel Cummins to the picket fence. They were short and got the treatment, as the contact with his new willow echoed around like a rifle shot. Not since Chris Cairns, who sent both Brett Lee and Shane Warne out of the park in 2000 had a New Zealand batsman belted it like this in a Basin test.
His first half-century took 44 balls, the second just 27 as he opened the shoulders for 11 fours and three sixes. He edged for four to bring up 99 then guided the next one to deep point to raise his ton. He was caught at long on for 105 off 74.
‘‘Today it felt pretty good. I got a couple of new Kookaburras [bats] and they’re going well. First game for this one.’’
De Grandhomme has peppered nearby buildings at the Basin before. In 2011 he crashed one through the Cricket Museum window and a new ball had to be found as the curator had locked up. In 2013 he was stranded on 99 for Auckland when the tail collapsed.