New Zealand's McCullum acknowledges his 300 against India during the second innings of play on day five of the second international test cricket match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington
New Zealand's Brendon McCullum acknowledges his 300 against India during the second innings of play on day five of the second international test cricket match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, REUTERS
New Zealand's Brendon McCullum acknowledges his 300 against India during the second innings of play on day five of the second international test cricket match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington,

Brendon McCullum became the first cricketer from New Zealand to make a triple century in a test match. His triple ton has not only become a part of the history but saved the test for his country as well.

McCullum spent two day on the field to score 302 for his country when the visiting nation India was all set to launch their first test victory in the on-going series. Nobody probably imagined that New Zealand would be able to stay at a commanding position on Day 5 of the second test with every possibility even to win the match. However, there was at least one person who believed it to be possible. Incidentally, it was the most expensive Kiwi player to be sold at the recently held IPL auctions in India.

There was a huge crowd cheering for McCullum at the Basin reserve. He was 281 not out on the fourth day, and there was obvious expectation from him to make history. The highest test score by a Kiwi before McCullum's was 299 by Martin Crowe. It was rather tragic when Crowe missed the opportunity to be the first Kiwi to score a triple ton. However, Crowe's hard luck against Sri Lanka did not continue in the case of McCullum. However, there was a heart-breaking moment.

McCullum edged to Ishant Sharma when he was at 293 but the ball, fortunately for everyone praying for McCullum) fell short of the Indian wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. McCullum did not make any mistake after that. His moment of glory came when he hit the boundary to the third man against Zaheer Khan. His stay at the crease did not last long as he edged to Dhoni at 302 (off 559 balls) with 4 sixes and 32 fours.

It seemed to be a day of creating records for New Zealand as James Neesham too had a moment of pride. Neesham joined the list of Kiwi batsmen to score a test hundred on debut. He is the 10th Kiwi batsman to achieve the feat.

India finished at 166/3 in 52 overs. Virat Kohli scored a century. Match is drawn.