McCullum scores fastest Test hundred

When Brendon McCullum announced his retirement, cricket fans all over shed tears as they would never come across a batsman like the New Zealand skipper again. There was none like the Kiwi when it came to attacking cricket. McCullum had only one thing in mind while batting – “how do I get the ball to the boundary?”

This attitude was exemplified when he took to play his last international match in the second Test against Australia at the Hagley Oval. Brendon McCullum, in his last Test, became the man to score the fastest Test hundred as he reached the three-figure mark in just 54 balls, beating Vivian Richards’ and Misbah-ul-Haq's records of scoring it in 56 balls.

Australia had won the toss and elected to field first, and it seemed like a good choice until Brendon McCullum came in to bat. New Zealand were tottering at 32/3 in 19.4 overs when McCullum came to the crease.

From the moment he faced the first ball, he was in the usual attacking mode, not bothered about the fact that this was the last match he would ever play in international cricket. McCullum's 42-run partnership with Kane Williamson included 37 runs from the Kiwi skipper and 4 runs from Williamson.

One Williamson departed, it looked like chaos as their best batsman was dismissed after scoring 7 runs off 69 balls. One might be forgiven to have thought that this would slow down McCullum who 37 off 18 balls at the time. However, this is McCullum we are talking about, arguably, the most entertaining batsman in cricket right now.

Although McCullum was slowed down for a bit, having been 44 off 32 balls, from the 31^st over of the innings the New Zealand skipper took on the Australian bowlers. All of them. Dispatching everything possible to the boundary and beyond.

McCullum scored the next 56 runs in 22 balls to bring up his 12^th Test hundred, making history as the fastest Test hundred. For a batsman who is playing his last Test, to play such an innings of brute force and class is nothing short of being commendable. All those who never considered McCullum a batting legend would definitely have been provided with some food for thought now.

Hazlewood, who was Australia's best bowler after his first ten overs, had his bowling figures marred in epic proportions. In 10 overs, the Australian bowler had conceded 11 runs and picked up a wicket. However, after 12 overs, Hazlewood had conceded 50 runs, 39 runs leaked in just 2 overs.