McCullum becomes first Kiwi to score 300 in Tests

Wellington: Brendon McCullum became the first New Zealand batsmen to score a test match triple century on Tuesday during the fifth day of the second test against India at the Basin Reserve. The 32-year-old McCullum had resumed on 281 and brought up the milestone with a late cut for his 32nd boundary to surpass the 299 that Martin Crowe scored against Sri Lanka on the same ground in 1991 and move to 302 with New Zealand on 625 for six. [caption id=“attachment_1395529” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum celebrates his triple century against India on the final day of the second test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand. AP[/caption] He was the 24th player to score a triple century in tests and it was the 28th time someone had achieved the mark. World record holder Brian Lara, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Don Bradman all did it twice. After four days of brilliant sunshine, the fifth day at the boutique-sized ground began under heavy overcast skies, suggesting India’s pace bowlers could exploit the conditions to their advantage. Lengthy queues were evident when play began as people tried to get into the ground to witness the event. McCullum had first strike and his intentions were set from the first ball, watching a wide Zaheer Khan delivery go through to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He scored his first run of the day when he pushed an Ishant Sharma delivery wide of mid-off and strolled through for a single, which was warmly applauded, and pulled an Ishant delivery to the midwicket fence for his first boundary. Ishant caused a collective intake of breath from the burgeoning crowd when he comprehensively beat McCullum on 293, though the batsman did not get a nick. Debutant Jimmy Neesham, who had started the day on 67, then temporarily stole his captain’s thunder with his first test century when he tucked Ishant off his hip for two runs. Neesham’s century came from 123 balls, including 15 boundaries, and was greeted with a massive cheer from the crowd as the 23-year-old raised his arms and celebrated. McCullum reached the milestone shortly afterwards with his late cut and received a sustained round of applause that went on for more than a minute, while his father Stu jumped to his feet in celebration. His innings, however, lasted two more balls when he feathered a catch off Zaheer to Mahendra Singh Dhoni with all of the India team rushing to shake his hand as he received another round of raucuous applause as he walked off. Reuters