Brendon McCullum equals Gilchrist’s record of hundred sixes in Tests

It took him 9756 balls and 98 matches; Brendon McCullum has finally achieved a feat that seemed coming his way for long now. McCullum, who remained not out on 17 on day 4 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Dunedin, plundered his second six of his innings to equal the world record. The six took his total to 100, joining Australian legend Adam Gilchrist as the most prolific boundary busters in Test history.

Gilchrist achieved the feat during his 96th Test match. Interestingly both McCullum and Gilchrist hammered Sri Lankan ace spinner on their way to the world record. McCullum said that while it would have been nice to hit one more six in the innings to take the record all for himself, the team had decided that they would declare when the lead passed 400. That shot had taken it to 404.

“I was hoping someone would ask me about the 100 sixes,” he said. “It’s the only record I actually care about. It’s the only record that Kane Williamson or Ross Taylor aren’t going to break as well, so I should be able to hold on to that one. I’ve been aware of it for a while, as you can probably tell by the way I bat all through my career.”

The following table lists the career summary of Brendon McCullum with breakup of boundary sixes against each opposition:

Brendon McCullum has been phenomenal against all the Test playing nations. Here is the list of occasions where McCullum made it count and towered long ones. He has hammered 11 sixes twice in the year 2014. He struck 11 sixes against Pakistan at Sharjah and plundered the same number of sixes against Sri Lanka at Christchurch. In the same year, the New Zealand skipper hit 5 sixes and 4 sixes respectively at Auckland and Wellington.

Brendon McCullum features twice in this list of maximum sixes in an innings. He towered 11 sixes twice (against Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Apart from McCullum, Matthew Hayden, Nathan Astle and WR Hammond also feature in the list. Interestingly, former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram tops the chart with 12 sixes.

 Stats by HR Gopala Krishna