Brilliant Brendon
IN BOXING DAY BELTER
ONCE again in his brilliant year of batting, Brendon McCullum held New Zealand spellbound as he dominated the first day of the Boxing Day test against Sri Lanka.
His magnificent innings of 195 has once again etched his name into the history books.
He fell agonisingly short of Nathan Astle’s record for the fastest test double century: had his final shot carried for six, he would have beaten Astle’s 153-ball effort against England in 2002 by 19 balls.
McCullum has been supreme over the last 12 months. In February, he became the first New Zealander to score a triple century. He has scored three test double centuries, the latest just last month against Pakistan.
This time, he seized a special moment for his own.
An Otago man, he has made his home in Christchurch – how fitting then that he should christen the new Hagley Oval and mark the first test in the city for eight years with such an exhilarating innings.
Off the 28th ball of his innings, he smashed Angelo Mathews over long on for six, to bring up 1000 test runs in 2014, the first New Zealander to reach the mark in a calendar year.
His century came off just 74 balls – another New Zealand record.
It was brilliant. It was scarcely less than breathtaking.
Even though he narrowly missed the record, the ground rose in an ovation, marking not only a superb innings but also the latest in a series of magnificent achievements.
GOLDEN RUN
Brendon McCullum has put together an unprecedented run of scores in 2014, including the first test triple century by a New Zealander and two other double hundreds. 224 v India at Auckland, February 302 v India at Wellington, February 202 v Pakistan at Sharjah, November 195 v Sri Lanka at Christchurch, December 26. McCullum has scored 1164 runs in 16 test innings in 2014 at an average of 72.75.