CHRISTCHURCH — Brendon McCullum came agonizingly close to breaking the world record for the fastest Test double century as he bludgeoned Sri Lanka's attack around Hagley Oval to lead New Zealand to 429 for seven at the close on the first day of the first Test Friday. McCullum had raced to 195 from 134 balls before the home skipper was caught in the deep by Dimuth Karaunaratne off debutant spinner Tharindu Kaushal, sparking a rush to the exits from the capacity crowd of 8,000 in Christchurch. The existing record was set in the same city when New Zealand's Nathan Astle took 153 balls to reach his double century against England at Lancaster Park in 2002. The 33-year-old McCullum belted 18 fours and 11 sixes in his innings as he became the first New Zealand batsman to surpass 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year and broke his own national record for the fastest century, which came off 74 balls. Mark Craig was on five after wicketkeeper BJ Watling was trapped lbw for 26 in the final over but the host was in a dominant position after it had been asked to bat by Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews on a green pitch. Despite the bowler-friendly conditions, neither Hamish Rutherford (18) nor Tom Latham (27) were tested in the first hour, though both were dismissed before lunch to leave the host on 84-2. A mix up and slip led to Ross Taylor being run out for seven shortly after lunch and then McCullum grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with an explosive display of big hitting. McCullum, who had needed 31 runs to reach the 1,000-run mark in a calendar year, brought up the milestone with a six over long off. The batsman then thought he had reached his century with a massive six off Kaushal but he was actually still a run short due to an incident on the previous delivery. A review of a leg before appeal when he was on 93 showed he had hit the ball but the two runs stayed as leg byes on the scorecard and were not credited to his personal tally. Having acknowledged the applauding crowd, he then realized he was still on 99 but was able to bring up his century on the next ball. He shared in a 126-run partnership with Kane Williamson (54) and a 153-run partnership in 19.3 overs with all-rounder Jimmy Neesham (85) as the hosts took the visitors out of the contest by scoring at more than 5.3 runs an over. — Reuters
