Know McCullum, first Kiwi to score 300 in a test

New Delhi: Captain Brendon McCullum became the first New Zealander to post a triple century in test cricket when he reached the milestone on the final day of the second test against India at the Basin Reserve. McCullum started Tuesday 281 not out and took almost 50 minutes to add the 19 runs he needed to reach a landmark achievement in New Zealand cricket. He was immediately out for 302, caught behind by his India counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the bowling of Zaheer Khan. At that point, McCullum had batted for 774 minutes -- almost 13 hours -- in the longest innings played by a New Zealander in test or one-day cricket. He surpassed the previous highest score by a New Zealander in tests, Martin Crowe's 299 against Sri Lanka which was also achieved on the Basin Reserve in 1991.McCullum's score is the fourth-highest by a batsman in the second innings. He is the only the second batsman to hit a triple hundred in the second innings. Only Hanif Mohammad has scored a triple-century in the second innings, against West Indies in Bridgetown, way back in 1957-58. There have been only eight other scores of 250 or more in the second innings. Crowe is the only other New Zealand batsman in this list.McCullum is the current captain in all three forms of the international game. He plays for the Otago Volts at provincial level, he played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, having also spent one year with Kochi Tuskers Kerala. McCullum was a wicket-keeper until 2013, and is an aggressive batsman who opens in One-day Internationals and is known for his fast scoring rate.In 2003 he played in a Test series against England and scored what was then his highest score, an innings of 96 at Lord's. His maiden Test century came several months later when he scored 143 against Bangladesh. He fell just short of his second Test hundred in a game against Sri Lanka when dismissed one short of his hundred. His second century would later come with a run a ball 111 against Zimbabwe.He was selected in the 20-man ICC World XI squad for the ICC Super Series in July 2005.On 20 February 2007, he scored 86 not out as New Zealand went on to be the first team to whitewash Australia in a 3 match ODI series since 1997. He struck a massive six off the first ball of the last over against Nathan Bracken to level the scores, before he finished it off with a boundary. In his matchwinning innings he partnered Craig McMillan to a world record equalling 6th wicket partnership of 165.On 21 March 2007, he set a new World Cup record, by smashing 50 runs from just 20 balls against Canada in St Lucia. He finished his innings with 52 runs from 21 balls, including 10 fours and 5 sixes, with a strike rate of 247.61. On 31 December 2007 he scored 50 from just 19 balls against Bangladesh. He finished his innings with 80 runs from only 28 balls, including 9 fours and 6 sixes with a strike rate of 285.71 resulting in a 10 wicket win.On 12 February 2008 he scored 50 from 27 balls against England. He finished his innings with 80 runs from only 47 balls, including 8 fours and 5 sixes with a strike rate of 170.21 resulting in a 10 wicket win and giving New Zealand a 2 nil lead in the 5 match series.On 18 April 2008, he claimed the record for highest individual score in a Twenty20 innings, scoring 158* from only 73 balls, which included 13 sixes and 10 fours in boundaries, for the Kolkata Knight Riders against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the first game of the Indian Premier League helping them get a much deserved 140 run victory.On 1 July 2008, he scored his maiden ODI century, eventually getting dismissed for 166 against Ireland. He shared in a 266 run opening stand with James Marshall, which is the highest ODI partnership for any wicket in Black Caps history and the second highest opening partnership in all ODIs.On 6 November 2009, vs Pakistan at Abu Dhabi, McCullum scored his second ODI century (131, 129 balls, 14 4's, 3 6's) to elevate New Zealand to 303 and win the match to level the series.On 16 February 2010, during the only Test match against Bangladesh, he scored 185, the highest score ever by a New Zealand wicket-keeper in Test cricket. On 27 February 2010, becomes just the second player to score a T20I hundred, finishing 116 not out, one run short of Chris Gayle's record of 117.On 4 May 2010 McCullum became the first player to score 1000 T20 international runs. He achieved this feat playing against Zimbabwe in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 at Guyana. On 21 September 2012 at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, McCullum scored 123 runs against Bangladesh at Pallekele, setting a new record for the highest Twenty20 International innings, and becoming the first player to score two Twenty20 International centuries. This record was broken by Aaron Finch on the 29th of August against England, when he scored 156. However McCullum still remains the only player to have scored two Twenty20 International centuries.