New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum smashed the fastest Test century off 54 balls on the first day of the second Test against Australia at Hagley Oval (Christchurch) on Saturday.
He broke the world record of fastest Test (off 56 balls) hundred jointly held by the West Indies' Sir Vivian Richards and Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq.
"I had no idea. I was trying to hit every ball for four or six. Viv was my idol growing up so it's nice to be able to go past him on this occasion. But he was a cracking player, he was an incredible cricketer. I'm almost a little bit of embarrassed to go past him, to be honest," he reacted after breaking Vivian Richards' world record, according to Indian Express.
A strong 179-run partnership between McCullum and Corey Anderson guided New Zealand to an impressive total of 370 in first inning after it lost four wickets at the score of 74, according to Stuff NZ. Australia was at 57-1 at the end of the first day.
McCullum, who is playing his final Test match, scored 145 with the help of six sixes and 21 fours. He also surpassed the world record of most sixes -101 - in Test Cricket's history.
WOW! Brendon McCullum in his final Test brings up the fastest ever Test century off 54 balls! 16 fours and 4 sixes! Unbelievable #NZvAUS ^WN
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 20, 2016
Extraordinary cricket being played by NZ! McCullum in T20 mode!! — Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) February 20, 2016
Congrats to Brendan McCullum on a brilliant 100. Sitting with Misbah clapping every shot! Great courage ... Great Test cricket! #nzvaust
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) February 20, 2016
Can't think of a better way to bow out of your sport..Baz McCullum has delivered what can only be described as a genius farewell..#NZvAUS — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 20, 2016
The greatest challenge a batsman has as his career unfolds is to retain that youthful fearless approach, McCullum owned that NO FEAR style!
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) February 20, 2016
Australia has registered innings and a 52-run victory over hosts in the Wellington Test on Monday. The second Test began on Saturday morning. Watch the live stream here and here and videos here and live scores here. The second day of the five-day match starts at 10:30 a.m. local time on Feb 21 or 9:30 p.m. GMT/ 4:30 p.m. EST/ 1:30 p.m. PT on Feb. 20.
Probable Squads
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Australia: Steve Smith, David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Peter Siddle, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird
