BLACKCAPS skipper Brendon McCullum got back to his best in the Indian Premier League on the weekend.
The 33-year-old hit an incredible 100 not out from 56 balls to lead the Chennai Super Kings to their second win of the season over the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 45 runs to be atop of the IPL leaderboard.
McCullum was at his aggressive best when he hit seven fours and nine sixes in an innings where he was striking at 178 as the Super Kings posted an impressive 209-4.
The New Zealand Cricketer of the Year came up against team mate Trent Boult, the winner of the Winsor Cup for bowling, and got the better of him with a number of well-timed ramp shots.
Boult finished with figures of 1-34 from his four overs for the Sunrisers while team-mate BLACKCAPS batsman Kane Williamson hit an unbeaten 26 from 18 balls batting at No.6.
Meanwhile, Tim Southee was the hero with the bat for the Rajasthan Royals in a last ball thriller against the Delhi Daredevils.
The 26-year-old from Northern Districts required 3 runs off the final ball and he hit a beautiful cover drive to get the Royals home by three wickets.
Earlier in the match, Southee struggled with the ball as he had figures of 0-36 from four overs as the Daredevils attacked early.
The match before the spearhead of the BLACKCAPS pace attack played his part in one of the best catches in IPL history.
Southee joined forces with team mate Karun Nair to hall in a shot from Kings XI Punjab captain George Bailey that was six-bound on the midwicket boundary.
The NZ pace-man athletically snatched the ball out of mid-air with perfect timing, before his foot landed over the boundary rope, and flicked the ball to Nair who completed a spectacular catch with one hand.
The response from his Royals’ team-mates summed up the moment as they came running from all corners to join in the celebrations.
The incredible show of team work featured on ESPN, which described it as “the catch that will break the internet”.
The Royals went on to win the match by 26 runs.
Daniel Vettori’s Royal Challengers Bangalore have only played one match so far in the IPL and they defeated the Kolkatta Knight Riders by 3 wickets.
BLACKCAPS pace bowler Adam Milne, who was ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with a heel injury, is still to fully recover and did not make his debut for the Royal Challengers.
BLACKCAPS all-rounder Corey Anderson, who starred with a half century in the opening match for the Mumbai Indians, struggled in their second game against the Kings XI Punjab when he was stumped for 5.
The Kings won by 18 runs as the Indians finished on 159-7 short of the target of 177.
