February 18, 2014. Wellington, New Zealand. There was a buzz in the air on the final day of the 2nd Test between the hosts and India as the crowd gathered at the Basin Reserve. Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum was batting on 281 and needed just 19 to achieve a historic feat.
No New Zealand batter had ever scored a Test 300. Martin Crowe came the closest when he made 299 vs Sri Lanka in 1991. Now over 2 decades later, there was a chance for it to happen.
The home team was 571/6 when play resumed and India’s hopes of winning and drawing the series was more or less over as the Kiwis led by 325 runs. Though rewind a few days back, India looked all set to retain the rubber.
AFP
The home team was 571/6 when play resumed and India’s hopes of winning and drawing the series was more or less over as the Kiwis led by 325 runs. Though rewind a few days back, India looked all set to retain the rubber.
India then had New Zealand on the ropes at 94/5. Game over, or at least that is what any sane cricket fan thought, no matter which side he or she was supporting. But that fan could not have been more wrong.
McCullum with BJ Watling for company steadily accumulated runs and then turned on the aggression mode as the Indians began to run out of ideas. The duo put on 352 runs for the 6th wicket before Watling departed for 124. McCullum was still going strong as he went past 250 for the 1st time and by the end of the day was within striking distance of a triple ton.
AFP
Fast forward to the 5th day, there was hardly a sign of nerves as McCullum neared the 300-mark. Then it happened. A fierce cut-off Zaheer Khan saw the ball race to the boundary and McCullum had done it. Up went the arms, the crowd cheered, his father who was at the ground was celebrating and the Indians too congratulated him on playing a brilliant innings while his side applauded from the dressing room as their skipper bailed them out of a sticky situation. With him was Jimmy Neesham who just made a 100 on his Test debut. Incidentally, this would be Zaheer’s last international appearance for India.
But back to the moment. It was history created and even though McCullum a couple of balls later, his 559-ball 302 with 32 fours and 4 sixes had saved New Zealand. The Kiwis finished with 680/8 as Neesham went on to make 137 not out. Set 435 to win, India managed 166/3 with Kohli making an unbeaten century. Match drawn and series won 1-0 by McCullum’s men.
Towards the end of the same year, McCullum almost became Test cricket’s fastest double centurion when he made 195 in 134 balls vs Sri Lanka. Had he scored the 5 runs in another 18 balls, he would have done it. In his last Test in 2016 vs Australia, he became the fastest to hit a 100 in Tests in 54 balls. But those two are tales for another day. The fastest ton is still the world record and he is still New Zealand’s only Test triple centurion.