Stats: New Zealand v Australia, 2nd Test, Day 1: McCullum's 54-ball hundred gives NZ upper hand on Day One
Brendon McCullum has always been an entertainer in cricket, no matter what format he played. No one expected any less than that in the last Test match of his career when New Zealand took on Australia at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
The New Zealand skipper played one of the most counter-attacking innings we will ever see as he went on to score 145 off just 79 balls, bringing up the fastest Test hundred ever. He came in to bat when his team was struggling at 32/3 in 19.4 overs at a run rate of below 3. However, when he was finished, New Zealand were cruising at above five runs an over, thus giving his team an advantage at the close of play.
2 – This is only the second Test being held at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The first Test to be held at the ground was against Sri Lanka in 2014.
4 – Brendon McCullum is fourth in the list of New Zealand batsmen with the highest number of Test centuries. McCullum has 12, behind Martin Crowe (17), Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson (13 each).
4 – The number of Test hundreds that McCullum has scored within 100 balls. He is level on third with Chris Gayle, who also has four Test hundreds scored in less than 100 balls. Only Adam Gilchrist, who has 6, and Virender Sehwag, who has 7, are above McCullum in the list.
5.63 – The run rate that New Zealand had at the end of their first innings score of 370. This is the second highest run rate in a score of 350 or more in an innings. The highest run rate was of 5.73 was by England when they scored 447/3d against Bangladesh in 2005.
8 – Eight out of the 12 Test centuries that McCullum scored were above 140.
9.76 – The run rate in the 179-run stand between Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson. This is the highest ever run rate in a partnership of 150 or more in Tests.
17 – The number of sixes that McCullum has hit at the Hagley Oval in Tests. This is the highest for him at any venue.
32 – The score of New Zealand when they lost the first three wickets. In the first Test of the series they had lost the first three wickets for 44 runs. The last time they lost their first three wickets for 50 or fewer runs was in 2014 against India.
54 – The number of balls that McCullum took to reach his hundred. The previous fastest was by Vivian Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq, both of who scored in 56 balls.
69.18 – The percentage of runs scored by New Zealand in boundaries. 256 out of the 370 runs they scored were in boundaries.
106 – The number of sixes McCullum has in his Test career. With the 6 sixes that the Kiwi skipper hit during his knock of 145, he is now on top of the list of players who have hit the most number of sixes in Tests overtaking Adam Gilchrist who has 100 sixes.
145 – McCullum's knock of 145 in the first innings was the highest score by a Kiwi batsman in his last Test. The previous highest was by Rodney Redmond who scored 107 in his last Test in 1973.
159.62 – The strike rate of McCullum in the two innings he has played at the Hagley Oval. Before his 79-ball 145, McCullum had scored a 134-ball 195 against Sri Lanka in 2014.
179 – The fifth-wicket partnership between McCullum and Anderson. The duo scored 179 in just 110 balls.
183.54 – McCullum's strike rate in his knock of 145. This is the second highest strike rate in an innings of 100 or more runs, after Viv Richards’ strike rate of 189.75 in his knock of 110* against England in 1986.
199 – Number of runs scored by New Zealand in the second session of the day. The Kiwis scored at a run rate of 8.29 after having scored 74 in the first session at a run rate of 2.84 an over.