New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum hit a whirlwind double century and shared a record-breaking 297—run stand with century-maker Kane Williamson to put the Black Caps firmly in control of the final test against Pakistan on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
McCullum’s blazing 202 off 188 balls, with 21 fours and 11 sixes, led New Zealand to 388-2 at lunch on the third day in reply to Pakistan’s 351.
At lunch, Williamson was batting on a solid 135 off 177 balls with 17 fours and a six while Ross Taylor was not out on 25.
New Zealand can now eye a sizeable lead as it chases a series-levelling victory.
ADVERTISEMENT
Resuming at 249-1, McCullum and Williamson decimated Pakistan bowlers with flurry of boundaries in raising New Zealand’s highest-ever second-wicket stand against all test-playing nations.
Former New Zealand captain John Wright and Andrew Jones held the previous record of 241 against England at Wellington in 1992.
Williamson, 76 overnight, completed his eighth test hundred when he clipped fast bowler Mohammad Talha to midwicket boundary.
Both Talha and Rahat Ali were guilty of bowling too short on a slow wicket and were punished by well-timed pull shots by the New Zealand pair.
Even the two spinners couldn’t stop the flow of runs as McCullum raced to 196 by hitting two fours and a six in left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar’s one over.
McCullum, who notched New Zealand’s first test triple century earlier this year against India, raced to his double century when he lofted Yasir Shah over long on for a six, but two balls later he was bowled around his legs by the legspinner.
McCullum’s swashbuckling knock gave him a chance to become New Zealand’s first player to score 1000 test runs in a calendar year as he’s now tallying 969 runs in 2014.