CHRISTCHURCH: Brendon McCullum came agonisingly close to breaking the world record for the fastest Test double century as he bludgeoned Sri Lanka’s attack to lead New Zealand to 429 for seven at the close on the opening day of the first Test here at the Hagley Oval on Friday.

McCullum had raced to 195 from 134 balls before the home skipper was caught in the deep by Dimuth Karaunaratne off debutant spinner Tharindu Kaushal, sparking a rush to the exits from the capacity crowd of 8,000.

The existing record was set in the same city when New Zealand’s Nathan Astle took 153 balls to reach his double century against England at Lancaster Park in 2002.

McCullum, 33, belted 18 fours and 11 sixes in his innings as he became the first New Zealand batsman to surpass 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year and broke his own national record for the fastest century, which came off 74 balls.

He also equalled the New Zealand record of 11 sixes in an innings, one short of the world record of 12 sixes held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram. In his career, McCullum has now hit 92 sixes, closing in on the world’s best of 100 by former Australian wicket-keeper/batsman Adam Gilchrist.

Mark Craig was on five after wicket-keeper B.J. Watling was trapped lbw for 26 in the final over but the hosts were in a dominant position after they had been asked to bat by Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews on a green pitch.

“Once I got under way and managed to create a partnership with Kane (Williamson), the runs began to flow quite nicely,” McCullum told RadioSport.

“It was nice to have a good solid day and put ourselves in front of the game and put some pressure back on Sri Lanka.”

Despite the bowler-friendly conditions, Sri Lanka’s attack did not look penetrating, despite New Zealand slumping to 88-3 shortly after lunch and the match seemingly swinging back towards the visitors.

Suranga Lakmal, however, dropped a simple caught and bowled opportunity off Williamson with the score on 103 and the floodgates opened.

McCullum punished anything short by slashing it to the cover-point boundary and when the Sri Lankan bowlers pitched up, he simply belted the ball back over their head.

He shared in a 126-run partnership with Williamson (54) and then a 153-run stand in 19.3 overs with all-rounder Jimmy Neesham (85) as the hosts took the visitors out of the contest by scoring at more than 5.3 runs an over.

“I was trying to be a little aggressive when the ball was up to get them to back their length off and that would create a scoring opportunity,” McCullum added.

“I think there is still something in the wicket for the bowlers if you bowl the fuller length, so hopefully when we do get the ball in hand we can create some opportunities.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan rated Dec 26 as the best opening day in New Zealand Test history.

“It was a very special day. It was the sort of day this venue and this city deserved with what they’ve gone through,” McMillan said.

“Even in your wildest dreams you would never have picked a day of Test cricket like that, especially when the pitch is a little bit on the green side and you lose the toss,” McMillan added.

“I don’t think I have enough superlatives to describe [McCullum’s] innings.

“He has the ability to dominate, dismantle bowlers very quickly and change the tempo and the way an innings is heading very quickly.

“He’s so destructive. I think, probably the most destructive and domineering player who has played for New Zealand.”—Agencies

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):T. Latham c Kaushal b Eranga27H. Rutherford b Lakmal18K. Williamson b Prasad54R. Taylor run out (Silva)7B. McCullum c Karunaratne b Kaushal195J. Neesham c Sangakkara b Mathews85BJ Watling lbw Mathews26M. Craig not out5EXTRAS (LB-4, W-2, NB-6)12TOTAL (for seven wkts, 80.3 overs)429FALL OF WKTS: 1-37, 2-60, 3-88, 4-214, 5-367, 6-420, 7-429.BOWLING (to-date): Lakmal 17-3-83-1 (1nb); Eranga 18-1-82-1; Mathews 9.3-1-34-2; Prasad 12-2-62-1 (2w); Kaushal 22-0-159-1 (5nb); Thirimanne 2-0-5-0.UMPIRES: Richard Illingworth (England), Bruce Oxenford (Australia)TV UMPIRE: Steve Davis (Australia)MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad (England).

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2014