New Zealand on top against Sri Lanka - Brendon McCullum hits most sixes in Test cricket, BJ Watling grabs nine

Tim Southee of New Zealand bowls to Dimuth Karunaratne of Sri Lanka

Constant rain on day 4 of the Test Match between the Black Caps and Sri Lankans forced the players to leave the field three times. Hail and showers were a constant this day. The Black Caps look in a comfortable position to clinch the test match as they have restricted the visitors for 109/3 in Dunedin after Brendon Mccullum’s sporting declaration.

Wicketkeeper BJ Watling took nine catches at the end of the day, a record breaking feat. Dinesh Chandimal was batting at 31 when the last shower came down, with 20 overs still to go and Angelo Mathews to come in next, Sri Lanka still require 296 runs to win for which they will have 98 overs.

The New Zealand captain declared the first innings on a surprising 267/3 just before lunch. Sri Lanka never looked good as their openers took a mammoth 23 overs to reach the initial 50 runs.

Kuranaratne was the first batsman to depart by lifting a short ball by Tim Southee leading to a simple catch for WJ Watling. Next batsman to leave the pitch was Udara Jayasundara for just three runs, again being caught by the keeper.

Mendis was dropped twice, but was finally caught by Watling as he nicked a Southee ball again to the keeper, who took his ninth catch of the match. He equalled his current captain’s record, for the most dismissals by a New Zealand Wicket Keeper. This is the second time Watling has taken nine catches already! He took the same number of catches against India in 2014. McCullum had nine against Pakistan in 2009.

McCullum declared when he was on 17 after hitting the six which equalled his record with Adam Gilchrist for most sixes in test cricket, the number is 100. This was not the only record for the New Zealand Captain, as he matched ABD’s record of most number of consecutive test matches since debut. The Kiwi has now played 98 straight test matches for his national side.

Kane Williamson now has 20 50+ scores in International matches this calendar year, joint most with Joe Root. Williamson also completed 1000 runs in this year, thus adding more to his list of milestones.

McCullum tops the sixes list

Brendon McCullum, known for his furious batting, reached another feat as he equalled Adam Gilchrist’s record for most sixes in a test career. He now has 100 sixes to his name, the same as the former Australian wicket-keeper.

Brendon McCullum entered the test match against Sri Lanka with 98 sixes to his name, just behind Gilchrist (100) and equal to Kallis, with Chris Gayle on 98. Adam Gilchrist’s 100th six also came against Sri Lanka in 2007.

One of the greatest innings by the former Australian wicket keeper came in 2002 when he scored 204 against the Proteas which included 8 sixes. Adam Gilchrist played 96 test matches for Australia from 1999 to 2008.

Brendon McCullum, who was sitting on 97 sixes, didn’t hesitate in playing his natural game against the Lankans, as the situation required fast hitting. He hit Herath for the first one and later hit him again just after 3 deliveries to equal the record. McCullum will definitely go ahead of Gilchrist very soon, given his style of play.

It would be good to see the Sri Lankans coming up to the challenge on Monday, the final day of the test, with 3 wickets already down and still 296 runs to win. Mathews and Chandimal will be on the crease as the final day opens.

Scorecard

Day 4, Stumps.

New Zealand 431 & 267/3d

Sri Lanka 294 & 109/3 (50.1 ov)

Sri Lanka require another 296 runs with 7 wickets remaining.

Stumps - Day 4
Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR This bowler Angelo Mathews (rhb) 0 0 0 0 - 0 (0b) Dinesh Chandimal (rhb) 31 64 7 0 48.43 1 (6b)
Bowlers O M R W Econ 0s 4s 6s Tim Southee (rmf) 10.1 3 16 2 1.57 52 1 0 Doug Bracewell (rfm) 12.0 5 21 0 1.75 62 3 0