New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2014/15: Statistical landmarks from Brendon McCullum's 195
New Zealand took the first-day honours in the opening Test against Sri Lanka at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Friday. The Black Caps finished the day on 429 for seven, thanks to contributions from captain Brendon McCullum, No.3 batsman Kane Williamson and allrounder Jimmy Neesham.
While Williamson and Neesham couldn't go on to make centuries, McCullum hammered the Sri Lankan attack to all parts of the ground. He was, unfortunately, dismissed five short of what would have been a well-deserved double century.
The Sri Lankan bowlers began on a good note, reducing the Kiwis to 88 for 3, but almost all of them were taken to the cleaners by McCullum. Debutant off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal went for 159 runs in his 22 overs while the opening pair of Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga were also dealt with severely by McCullum & co.
Here’s a look at the impressive feats achieved by McCullum and New Zealand on day one:
74 - Number of balls taken by Brendon McCullum to score his century. This is now a New Zealand record for the quickest hundred in Test Cricket. It is also the fastest hundred in the history of Test matches held on Boxing Day.
103 - Number of balls taken by McCullum to score his 150, thereby giving him the distinction of scoring the fastest 150 in Test history.
429 - Number of runs scored by the Black Caps on day one. It is the most numbers of runs hit by New Zealand in a single day’s Test cricket ever.
33 - Number of sixes hit by McCullum in 2014, which is a record for the most hit by any player in a calendar year.
7.84 - The run rate for the 153-run stand between McCullum and Neesham, the third-quickest for 150+ partnerships in Tests.
26 – Number of runs scored by the Kiwi skipper off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal in the 55th over of the innings. It's joint fourth in the list of most runs in an over in Test cricket.
1164 - Number of runs scored by McCullum in 2014. It is the most number of runs he has scored in a calendar year over his 10-year long Test career. His previous best was 764 in 2008. The 33-year-old consequently also became the first ever cricketer to score 1000 or more runs in a calendar year in Test matches for New Zealand.
145.52 - McCullum’s strike-rate during his innings. It is the highest for a 150-plus innings in Tests.
92 - Number of sixes hit by McCullum in Test Cricket. He is now in the fourth position for the most number of sixes hit in Test history, having overtaken Kevin Pietersen, Matthew Hayden, Chris Cairns, Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Andrew Flintoff and Virender Sehwag during the course of his innings..
195 - McCullum’s innings of 195 today was his lowest 50+ score in Tests in 2014, which means that he remarkably has had a 100% conversion rate whenever he has crossed 50 during this calendar year.
2 - McCullum became just the second batsman to hit a ton off less than 80 balls twice in the same year, following on from his 100 off 78 balls against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month. Chris Gayle was the first to achieve the feat in 2004..