OTD| Brendon McCullum became the first New Zealander to score a triple-century in Test Cricket in 2014

On This Day | Brendon McCullum became the first New Zealander to score a triple-century in Test Cricket in 2014 second and the last Test of India’s tour of NZ.In the second and the last Test of India’s tour of New Zealand 2014, the Asian side was dominant for the first three days. Batting first, thanks to Ishant Sharma’s six-for and Mohammed Shami’s four-for, the home team was reduced to 192 all-out. Trailing by 1-0 after an agonizing 40-run loss, the then MS Dhoni-led side needed to win to level the series.

In reply, the former World Number One Test side were 228/6 and looked like they won’t get a big lead. However, Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni put together 120 runs for the seventh wicket. Apart from them, Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer Khan’s cameos with the bat also helped the team reach 438 all-out, leading by 246 runs after the first innings.

In the second innings, things weren’t going any better for the Kiwis as they were reduced to 94/5 on Day Three. As India fielded poorly on the day, the home team finished 252/5 at stumps, leading by 6 runs with their skipper Brendon McCullum scoring a hundred.

Brendon McCullum rescues New Zealand and denies India a win

On Day Four and Five (February 17 and 18 respectively), the former New Zealand skipper continued punishing the Indian players for poor fielding. After being 94/5, he put together 342 runs with World Test Championship 2021 winner, BJ Watling (124). McCullum added another 179 runs with all-rounder James Neesham (137*).

During the process, the former wicketkeeper batter became the first player to score a triple hundred as he scored 302 off 559 balls, carrying on from a double hundred in the previous game. Thanks to him and others, the team reached 680/8 in the third innings.

Chasing an improbable 435 runs with less than two sessions left in the game, the visitors lost three wickets for 54 runs. However, former India skipper Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 105 ensured India secured a draw but ended up losing the series 1-0. Since 2009, India have been chasing their first Test win and the series win too.