Auckland: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum today said he had never imagined that the Kiwis would reach the 500-run mark after they were reduced to 30 for three in the morning session of first day's proceedings yesterday.
McCullum's sparkling 224 guided New Zealand to a commanding 503 in their first innings before the hosts reduced India to 130 for four at the end of second day's play.
"I thought we will get 200-odd runs, because when you are 30/3 down, you are thinking about small targets and getting a competitive score. Never did I think that after 30/3 in those conditions, we would end up getting 500 runs and for this batting line-up, I think that is a fine achievement," he said.
Further he said he has bowlers at his disposal to take 20 Indian wickets after the Kiwis rode on the skipper's unbeaten double century to take an upperhand in the ongoing first cricket Test, here today.
"We have bowlers to take 20 wickets if we give them enough runs and I think we have given them enough runs," said McCullum, after the second day's play was called off early due to bad light.
McCullum opined with India opener Murali Vijay and said the new ball was creating problems for the batsmen initially.
"The new ball is stopping a bit, when it is hard. We saw that with Ishant (Sharma) when the ball was changed in the morning and the pitch started to stop a little bit. Short catches in front of the wicket will become crucial as the game goes on," said the Kiwi skipper agreeing with Vijay's assertion that new ball hurting the batsmen of both teams.
"So, to get two wickets in the first over was outstanding, especially (Cheteshwar) Pujara's wicket because he can bat for weeks. It's nice to get him pretty early. They had a nice partnership going in the end, but it means that we still have a hard ball tomorrow morning. There is a slightly earlier start and I am hoping for an overcast morning with some swing," he added.
