Watch: Brendon McCullum's blazing knock of 55 off 25 balls

Brendon McCullum is merciless whenever he comes out to bat. In the first ODI against Sri Lanka, McCullum and Guptill shared an opening stand of 108 in 10.1 overs while chasing the target of 189 runs. He went for the chase in a usual fashion, attacking irrespective of how small the target was.

McCullum made room consistently for his flashing square cuts, drives and unleashed his trademark short-arm pulls. No Sri Lankan bowler was spared in this process. In the eighth over, McCullum slashed the ball over the covers and raised his bat to acknowledge his 23-ball half-century.

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He eventually fell to Siriwardana after a leading edge was skied high and caught by Kulasekara. He ended with 55 runs off 25 balls. This innings must have truly made the fans think even harder for the reason behind his decision to retire so soon. ‘Baz’ announced his retirement from international cricket before the start of the ODI series.

The most of the damage was done by McCullum and Guptill just carried forward this aggression from there on. Guptill was also dismissed soon. However, the chase was as good as over by the time when he departed. Henry Nicolls gave the final touches towards victory as New Zealand bossed their way to a seven-wicket win with 29 overs to spare.

Earlier, New Zealand did not miss the services of it’s swing bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee as Matt Henry with 4 for 49 and Doug Bracewell’s 3 for 37 demolished Sri Lanka. At one point they were 27/5, but some late charge by Nuwan Kulasekara and Milinda Siriwardana enabled them to reach 188 in the end.

Watch: Brendon McCullum’s blazing knock of 55 off 25 balls: