As memorable sporting farewells go, it will take some beating.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum set a Test cricket world record 54-ball century as he smashed the Australian bowling attack to all corners of Christchurch’s Hagley Oval Saturday.
It bettered the previous fastest ton of 56 balls, jointly held by West Indies ‘masterblaster’ Viv Richards and Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq.
“I was trying to hit every ball for four or six,” said McCullum, who also admitted he had been unaware of the record.
McCullum, making his final Test match appearance for the Black Caps, also hit six sixes in his innings of 145 runs from just 79 deliveries.
That took him clear of Australia’s Adam Gilchrist for the overall record number of sixes scored in Tests, McCullum now totaling 106.
In the context of the game and the series, McCullum’s onslaught was all the more remarkable, coming to the wicket with his side in deep trouble at 32 for three wickets in 20 overs.
He had a massive slice of luck having scored 39 when he was caught in the gully by Mitchell Marsh off James Pattinson, but he was called back when a TV replay showed the bowler had overstepped the line.
After the let off, McCullum showed no mercy to the Australia attack, sharing a 179-run stand off 110 deliveries with Corey Anderson as New Zealand totaled 370 runs in its first innings.
Australia, which won the first Test by an innings, needs victory in the match to regain top spot in the world Test rankings, reaching 57 for one wicket at the end of a run-filled first day.
The 34-year-old McCullum, renowned for his fast scoring in competitions such as the Indian Premier League, is retiring from international cricket after the current round of matches against the Australians.
In his only other Test on the Hagley Oval, a replacement for Lancaster Park, which was destroyed in a devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake that claimed 185 lives, McCullum hit 195 runs off 134 balls.
But this innings, which could be his last in Test cricket if New Zealand does not bat again, surpassed even that as he entered the record books in remarkable style.