On this day, Brendon McCullum fondly known as Baz walked out for one last time to represent the Kiwis in whites at Christchurch, which is considered as his second home. Needless to mention his brand of cricket, he kept his game plan very simple. Watch and Attack was his go to mantra.He was among very few gifted players, who had the ability to set the stage on fire ,right from the word go.
It was Feb 20, 2016. NZ locked horns with arch-rivals Aussies in Trans-Tasman test series. It was the second and final test of the series. Aussies won the first match in a formidable manner and were favorites for the second game as well. It was a green wicket at Christchurch and much to the dismay of NZ, they lost some of their quality batsmen. The score was 32/3 when Baz walked out. Kane Williamson fought hard for his 7 consuming 69 deliveries. It was very unfortunate for a player like McCullum to enter the pitch, but he took this stage as an opportunity to prove the world yet another time about his aggressive instincts. He looked very assured and played with a optimistic approach. NZ lost Kane Williamson too, at the score of 72, but that didn’t stop Baz. Sometimes, people say, attacking is contagious. This innings was one of its kind. His incredible striking helped his partner Corey Anderson as well, as the latter was also scoring at a brisk pace. It was as if both Baz and Corey were playing on a different pitch all together. They absorbed the pressure and reflected it back to Aussies. In-fact McCullum showcased one of his best performances in his final match, which earned him a world record of fastest test 100 by a batsman, which just took him 54 deliveries. He showed the way to bat on a tough wicket. BJ Watling also scored a handy 50 with a SR more than 100, thereby helping the Blackcaps to achieve a good total of 370 in their first innings. But Aussies responded well with their batting. Thanks to some quality knocks from Joe Burns and Steve Smith, which helped Aussies to breach the 500 mark. Trailing by 135, Kiwis couldn’t cope up to the mammoth score posted by Aussies. They could manage only 335, which wasn’t quite enough for the Kiwi bowlers to defend. It was a sad end for a wonderful cricketer. McCullum himself was a strong brand ambassador of fear-free cricket and he has made sure that he instills this thought to whichever team he plays for. Be it be, Kiwis or even for that matter KKR, he has taken efforts to convince his peers to follow the aggressive approach and it has yielded some outstanding results as well.
Thank you Baz!!
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