World Cup: Time for New Zealand skipper McCullum to break his knockout jinx

March 2, 2008, Eden Park Outer Oval: Auckland had set a target of 310 in front Otago in the State Shield final thanks to Martin Guptill’s 110. Otago hadn’t won a trophy since 20 years but with Auckland posting a daunting target, it seemed as if the trophy drought might continue. But out strode Brendon McCullum and shattered records in what turned out to be a historic day for New Zealand cricket – 170 off 108 balls laced with 19 fours and seven sixes blew Auckland away as the right-hander registered the highest score in New Zealand’s domestic one-day history and also the fastest hundred. Otago ended their silverware hoodoo as they won with an incredible 48 deliveries to spare. [caption id=“attachment_2168423” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Brendon McCullum. Getty[/caption] Fast forward to 2015: An inspirational McCullum has led New Zealand into the semi-finals of the World Cup. But this time, it’s his captaincy that has hogged the limelight rather than his batting. His aggressive personality has rubbed onto the team and the attack, attack, attack approach is working wonders. Of late, he’s been setting the example with his destructive batting and athletic fielding. He had a record-breaking 2014 where he became New Zealand’s first triple centurion in Tests and hit two Test double tons. However, watching McCullum bat in the last one year, it’s hard to believe that he averages just 30.57 in ODIs. However, there is a chink in his armour. McCullum has been really poor in knockout situations. He averages just 7.28 from eight innings in KO matches, scoring 51 runs with a highest score of 17. He’s managed to face just 74 balls in these matches. This is a big worry for the Kiwis as they head into the semis. McCullum has been providing blistering starts and has three fifties in the World Cup but two of them have come when New Zealand had to chase down small targets - 77 off 25 balls against England while chasing 124 and 50 off 24 balls against Australia chasing 152. The third one came against Sri Lanka while batting first. He made a brisk 42 against Afghanistan but since then, he’s scored 8 and 12 against Bangladesh and West Indies in the quarter-final. McCullum has faced an average of just 20 balls in his seven innings in this tournament. New Zealand batting hasn’t been tested much in this tournament thanks to their bowlers but when they came up against quality attack, they were taken down the wire by Australia and Bangladesh. They have just one centurion in this tournament - Martin Guptill - who hit 105 against Bangladesh and 237* against West Indies. Coming into the tournament, Kane Williamson was the lynchpin of their batting line-up but his form is a concern as he has struggled to convert his starts and has just one fifty. Ross Taylor too looks out of touch and has an average of 30.20 at a strike rate of 60.88. Their lower-order hasn’t spent much time in the middle. McCullum has taken bang, bang approach right from the start of the innings in this tournament but this time, things will be totally different. They are up against a quality bowling attack that skittled an in-form Sri Lankan side for just 133 in the quarterfinal. Morne Morkel, Kyle Abbott and Imran Tahir have been bowling really well and to add to that, Dale Steyn is slowly getting back to his best. The Proteas would be looking to go all out in pursuit of their first final appearance, so a strong batting effort will be the need of the hour for the Kiwis. But this is exactly where McCullum will have to step up and lead from the front – with the bat too. Never before have the Kiwis entered the final of the World Cup. They have lost in all the six semi-finals that they have played in. In the last two years (since Jan 1, 2013), McCullum averages just 16.80 in five innings against South Africa. This is the best time for him to make a statement and break his knockout matches jinx. When McCullum played for Cantebury, his knockout match scores read - 34, 16 and 7. But in the two knockout matches he played for Otago, he scored 108 and 170. It was his 108 off 126 balls against his former side Canterbury that powered Otago in the finals in the 2007-08 State Shield final and then he helped them win that elusive trophy. Interestingly, during that time, McCullum was coached by the current New Zealand coach Mike Hesson. The same combo will be back again in a knockout game and the Kiwis will hope that McCullum can create history once again. Only this time, it will be for the Black Caps.