Calcutta: Brendon McCullum blasted the fastest century in Test cricket on Saturday, during the first day's play of the second Test between New Zealand and Australia, in Christchurch.
What's even more fascinating is the fact that this is the New Zealand captain's final Test.
McCullum brought up his hundred in just 54 deliveries, two fewer than the previous record of 56 achieved by the great Viv Richards 30 years ago and Pakistan's Misbah-ul Haq in 2014.
Coming in to bat with his team struggling at 32 for three, McCullum unleashed a flurry of fours and sixes to change the course. New Zealand's first innings ended at 370.
At the end of the day's play, McCullum was crowded with mixed emotions. While he was proud of his feat, he was also a bit embarrassed that he broke his childhood idol's (Viv's) record.
"It was a special day... It's one of those things which you don't set out to achieve... You just ride your luck," McCullum said.
Asked if he was aware he was approaching the record when he was batting, he said: "I had no idea. I was trying to hit every ball for four or six. I wasn't aware of the record, but very respectful of all those who've held it before. It would be nice to win the Test match, that'd be the most important thing."
Speaking about Viv, McCullum said: "Viv was my idol growing up. It's nice to be able to go past him... He was a cracking player, an incredible cricketer. I'm almost a bit embarrassed to go past him, to be honest. Hopefully, he enjoyed a bit of the stroke-making."
McCullum was lucky when he was caught in the slip cordon when he was 39 but the umpire got it reviewed to find that James Pattinson had bowled a no-ball.
"I thought it was four as soon as I hit it, then I turned around and it was their third great catch of the day. Steve Smith's catches were phenomenal as well.
"We talked about that, that they do push the front line a little bit. You're always hopeful, but you don't anticipate it actually being a no-ball, so it was quite a nice reprieve. It probably loosens you up a little bit and relaxes you a bit more. You know you're probably not meant to be out there so you might as well play with even more freedom."
McCullum did say that he took a "attack is the best form defence" approach, but did he realise early that it was going to be his day?
"Probably the second ball, when I had an almighty, filthy slog and it went over the slip cordon for four... When you're confronted with wickets like that you know you're going to have to be pretty aggressive and need some luck, and we got quite a bit of luck. When we found ourselves batting first, we decided that the best form of defence was to attack. That partnership between Corey (Anderson) and I was great fun, but also crucial for us.
"I've been on the other side many times and you walk off and think 'if I'd reined it in a little bit who knows what would have happened'.
"On that wicket, the feedback from the boys was that at any stage, the ball could have your name on it. I tried to be as positive as I possibly could and hoped things would roll our way.
"When Corey came out he played aggressively and we started to get some momentum. We were able to knock them off that difficult length at the top of off stump. If you're just trying to hang in there on that wicket, around the top of off stump, you're in big trouble. It's nice when things come off."
The captain stressed that it was a deliberate strategy to score runs as quickly as possible. "We saw at the Basin as well that that wicket actually dried out a little bit quicker than what we hoped for. For us it was a matter of trying to score our runs as quick as we could so the pitch didn't have the opportunity to dry out too much."
"In the end, we faced 60-odd overs and the ball still went around in that last session as well. I think Sunday morning's really important. It seems to do a lot more in the morning session here so we've got to be on our lengths. If we bowl well, we'll get some opportunities. Then it's a matter of whether we take them or not."
