Australia tour of New Zealand - Feb 2016

[bigfluffylemon]

Fastest ever 150 partnership too, unsurprisingly.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Bren goes, another good catch. Incredible. Hard to beat for innings of the year...

[bigfluffylemon]

And he's out.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Anderson goes now. Fine knock, but could have consolidated with BJ, rotated the strike for a bit in tune with his new partner.

Blimey, Tim's in already.

[Arthur Crabtree]

25 overs bowled in two sessions.

[bigfluffylemon]

370. Not a bad total, especially on a pitch that still looks a bit juicy, although it's not as bad as it was. NZ will be quite happy with that from 74-4. Having sent NZ in, that's probably 150 more than Australia were hoping to get them for.

I can't believe 370 runs have been scored and there are still 20 overs to bowl.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Aussies batting with assurance.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Wee Davie goes. Didn't look like much was happening.

[Dr Cricket]

Am I dreaming did NZ really score 370, when i woke up thought they were all out with Australia batting.

[GarlicJam]

It's all true, bh. MacCullum has broken the record for the fastest test century - 54 balls. Just when Aus were really grinding NZ, too.


All up, I would say a pretty even day's play, if frenetic

[The Professor]

Think New Zealand might regret not picking a spinner...feel the pitch may warrant it soon.

[Gingerfinch]

Wow! I can imagine he rode his luck but so what. An exit to end all exits. A win would be the cherry on the icing of course.

[Aidan11]

Just heard about McCullum beating the record for the fastest test 100 in number of balls.


I'm so glad Viv's record has finally been broken. Nothing personal against Viv, it's just that it was against us.

[Aidan11]

The stats from Cricinfo....

54 Balls required by Brendon McCullum to complete his century - the least in Test history. He went past the previous record of 56, by Viv Richards against England in St John's in 1985-86 and by Misbah-ul-Haq against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014-15.

183.54 McCullum's strike rate in his 79-ball 145 - the second highest in innings of 100 or more runs. Only Richards' strike rate of 189.75 in his 58-ball 110 not out is higher. This is only the fourth instance of a batsman having a strike rate of 150 or more in an innings of 100 or more runs (where balls faced have been recorded).

106 Sixes for McCullum in Tests, the most by any batsman. When he started this innings he was on 100, the joint highest with Adam Gilchrist.

5.63 New Zealand's run rate in their total of 370 - the second highest by any team in a total of 350 or more. Only England's 447 for 3 against Bangladesh in Chester-le-Street in 2005 was marginally better, at 5.73. New Zealand had a run rate of 5.13 in the first innings of their previous Test at Hagley Oval, when they made 441 against Sri Lanka after being asked to bat.

2 Number of New Zealand batsmen who have scored a century in their career's final Test match, including McCullum. Before him, Rodney Redmond had made 107 in his only Test match, against Pakistan in Auckland in 1972-73. The last batsman to score a century in his final Test match was Jacques Kallis, who made 115 against India in Durban in 2013-14.

9.76 Run rate in the 179-run stand between McCullum and Corey Anderson for the fifth wicket - highest in a partnership of 150 or more runs (where balls faced is known). It is also the highest run rate in any century stand against Australia.

427 Total runs scored on the first day, which is the third-highest aggregate on the first day of a Test in New Zealand and sixth highest on any day. The highest is 442, in Wellington in 1931-32 between the hosts and South Africa.

159.62 McCullum's strike rate in the two innings he has played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Before this 145 off 79 balls, he had made 195 in 134 balls against Sri Lanka in December 2014. His strike rate is the highest for a batsman at a particular venue facing 200 or more balls. He had hit 11 sixes and 18 fours in that innings, and six sixes and 21 fours in this innings. His tally of 17 sixes is the most for him at any venue in Tests and fifth-highest for a batsman at a particular venue.

69.18 Percentage of runs which came in boundaries for New Zealand - 256 out of 370. They hit 46 fours and 12 sixes. The percentage is the third highest in a total of 350 or more in Tests. The top two have been both for Pakistan: 69.75% against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2010-11, and 69.67% against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2001-02.

3 New Zealand batsmen who have scored more centuries than McCullum's 12. Martin Crowe made 17, and Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson 13 each. This was McCullum's sixth century as captain.

199 Runs added by New Zealand in the second session, losing three wickets, in 24 overs at a run rate of 8.29. In the first session, they had scored just 74 for 3 in 26 overs at 2.84 an over.

5 Instances of New Zealand's No.5, 6 and 7 all making 50 or more in an innings. McCullum made 145, Anderson 72 and BJ Watling 58. The last such instance for them was in 2008-09 against India in Napier. All five such instances have been in New Zealand. Watling also completed 2000 runs in his Test career in his knock of 58.

[Gingerfinch]

Just heard about McCullum beating the record for the fastest test 100 in number of balls.


I'm so glad Viv's record has finally been broken. Nothing personal against Viv, it's just that it was against us.

Pity McCullum didn't thrash a double ton!