McCullum stars as New Zealand win over Bangladesh

2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka

Brendon McCullum's brilliant record century leads Nea Zealand beat Bangladesh by 59 runs in ICC World Twenty20 on Friday. McCullum scored 123 runs from 58 balls it consists of 11 fours and seven sixes.

Nasir Hossain made 50 from 39 balls. Bangladesh ended innings with 132 for 8. Tim Southee take 3 for 16 and Kyle Mills 3 for 33 collapse the Bangladesh batting line up.

Scorecard:

Bagladesh won the toss chose to bowl 

New Zealand 191 for 3 in 20 overs

Brendon McCullum 123

Brendon McCullum was the only batsman to score two century in the twenty20 internationals. this is highest individual score by a any batsman in this format of the game. he reached his century in 51 balls, it was the fouth fastest century in T20'S. 

James Franklin 35

Abdur Razzak 2-28

Bangladesh 132 for 8 in 20 overs

Nassir Hossain 50

Tim Southee - 3-16

New Zealand won by 59 runs.

Man of the match - Brendon McCullum

New Zealand will meet pakistan on Sunday. Bangladesh will take on Pakistan on next Tuesday.

India lose to New Zealand by one run in a cliffhanger

Chennai: New Zealand pipped India by one run in a thrilling Twenty20 international in Chennai on Tuesday to ruin cancer survivor Yuvraj Singh's return to big-time cricket.

Brendon McCullum smashed 91 off 55 balls as the Kiwis posted 167 for 5 and then restricted the hosts to 166 for 4 despite Virat Kohli's 70 from 41 deliveries and a valiant 34 from Yuvraj.

India were cruising at 120 for 2 in the 14th over when left-arm seamer James Franklin turned the match around by having Kohli caught in the deep. The dismissal put the brakes on the scoring, leaving India needing 13 runs off Franklin's last over.

Franklin bowled Yuvraj with the fourth ball when six more were needed, but new batsman Rohit Sharma could manage only four runs from the last two deliveries.

McCullum led the charge for the Black Caps with 11 boundaries and three sixes before he was bowled by left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan. McCullum added 90 runs for the third wicket with Kane Williamson (28) after the Black Caps had lost openers Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill by the second over.

Taylor and Oram plundered 21 runs in the last two overs, which proved costly for India in the end.

1st Test: Ashwin spins India to an innings win against New Zealand

Hyderabad: R Ashwin's 12 wicket-haul helped India humble New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs in Hyderabad on Sunday to win the first Test and take 1-0 lead in their two-match Test series. Ashwin took 6 for 54 in the second innings after his 6 for 31 in the first, as the visitors were dismissed for just 164. Ashwins' fellow spinner, left-armer Pragyan Ojha, finished with figures of 3 for 48.

Following on, Kruger van Wyk and Doug Bracewell took New Zealand's second innings score to 146 for 6 at tea on the penultimate day. But Ashwin and Ojha continued with their magical spell after tea as they claimed the last four Kiwi wickets in the span of 6.5 overs to power India to a crushing victory.

India had a frustrating first session as the overnight duo of Brendon McCullum (42) and Kane Williamson (52) put up a brave front after resuming at 44 for 1, following on in the second innings.

But after Umesh Yadav (1 for 32) broke the 72-run second wicket partnership, New Zealand lost their remaining nine wickets in 34.4 overs with more than a day left for the match. This was also India's first Test win in nine months following a 0-4 thrashing at the hands of Australia.

India got their first breakthrough of the day after lunch, thanks to a poor decision by Steve Davis ruled McCullum out. McCullum got an inside edge before the ball hit the pads but umpire Davis ruled the batsman out.

Ross Taylor's poor form continued as he came to the middle for a short time. He left Ashwin's delivery alone on a turning pitch and found his off stump unsettled. Kane Williamson and Daniel Flynn consolidated and put on a partnership of 33 runs but Williamson edged Ojha to Sehwag at slip for 52.

Ashwin took two wickets in two overs in the form of Flynn and James Franklin as with spin at both ends, it was just a matter of time for the Indians to take an unassailable 1-0 lead. Sehwag took a diving catch at first slip to dismiss Franklin off Ashwin.

Ashwin was simply unplayable as the Indian offspinner completed his 10-wicket haul in the match with the wicket of of van Wyk.

Earlier, India began day-4 proceedings straight away with the spin duo of Ojha and Ashwin, but there was little assistance in the morning as the Kiwi batsmen played them out sensibly.

India and New Zealand will now travel to Bangalore for the second Test.

IPL 5: Bravo's last-ball six pulls CSK through

Dwayne Bravo struck a six from the final delivery as the Chennai Super Kings kept alive their play-off hopes in the Indian Premier League with a tense five-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday. The West Indian allrounder struck Rajat Bhatia over the long-on fence. Chasing a modest score of 159, openers got Chennai off to a flying start as Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay stitched 97-run opening stand.

Mystery spinner Sunil Narine then struck twice in the tenth over to end the Hussey-Vijay partnership. Narine double-strike helped Kolkata reduce Chennai to 97 for 2 in 9.4 overs. Soon a terrible mix-up saw Suresh Raina perish for eight. Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni then got down to the task of guiding Chennai to victory. Dhoni (28 off 21) set up the match nicely, taking 18 runs from the penultimate over bowled by Marchant de Lange

But the captain fell off the second ball in the last over, with just three coming from the next four, before Bravo's last-ball maximum stunned the home crowd into silence.

Earlier, Chennai bowlers put on a inspired show to restrict Kolkata for 158 for 6. Put into bat, Gautam Gambhir struck an aggressive half-century but then watched his team falter thanks to some brilliant bowling by Chennai bowlers. Gambhir blasted 62 off just 43 deliveries and put on a 99 run opening partnership with Brendon McCullum (37 off 29).

From 99 for no loss in the 12th over, the KKR were reduced to 128 for 5 in the 18th over as Jacques Kallis (4), Manoj Tiwary (12) and Yusuf Pathan (11) failed to make any impact. McCullum was the first to go courtesy of a needless run out. Then in the very next over Shahdab Jakati got one to slip one through Gambhir's defence to have his stumps castled.

Kallis (4) fell attempting to reverse-sweep to Jakati, while Pathan started explosively for a huge six over long-on but his run of woeful form continued as he mistimed a delivery in the very next over as he fell to R Ashwin. Soon Tiwary was caught in the deep off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. The hosts were struggling at 128 for 5 at that stage.

In the end, late charge by Debabrata Das (19 not out off 10 balls) make sure that the hosts set a competitive target for the defending champions. Das hit a six and two fours in his late blast.

First Test between NZ, SA ends in draw

Dunedin: The first Test between New Zealand and South Africa ended in a damp draw on Sunday when rain washed out a final day which had promised a tantalizing finish.

New Zealand was due to resume at 137-2, 264 runs short of its victory target after South Africa declared its second innings on the fourth day at 435-5 with an overall lead of 400.

To win, New Zealand needed to score 401 runs in what would have been the highest successful run chase in its Test history. Its previous best was the 324 it scored to beat Pakistan by five wickets in 1994.

There was some hope for the home side with Brendon McCullum, 58 not out, and Ross Taylor, 48 not out, still at the wicket and involved in a partnership which had already produced 82 runs. not out, still at the wicket and involved in a partnership which had already produced 82 runs.

But heavy rain which began overnight continued relentlessly throughout the day and gave no hope of play resuming. The entire first session was lost to rain which persisted into the afternoon, forcing umpires Aleem Dar of Pakistan and Billy Doctrove of the West Indies to abandon play at 2.30 pm local time without a ball being bowled.

"The weather was always going to be a factor," South Africa captain Graeme Smith said. "They took a chance with the weather and the weather ended up winning the day. That's the reality of playing over here."

The second match of the three-Test begins at Hamilton on Thursday and the final test will be played in Wellington from March 23.

All but 58 overs were lost to rain on the first day, but enough play was possible on the next three days — which were played in fine but mainly cool conditions at the world's most southerly Test ground — to raise hopes of a result on Sunday's final day.

The teams had been closely matched after the first innings in which New Zealand replied with 273 to South Africa's 238 to gain a 35-run lead.

South Africa had been 47-2 in its second innings, leading by only 12 runs, before a 200-run third-wicket partnership between Smith (115) and Jacques Kallis (113), and an unbeaten 105 by Jacques Rudolph gave it the upper hand.

New Zealand also lost two early wickets in its second innings and was 55-2 before McCullum and Taylor came together and survived for 98 minutes before stumps on the fourth day. Their partnership raised some hopes that New Zealand, ranked eighth in the world in Tests, might still be able to beat South Africa, which needs to sweep the series to replace England as the top-ranked Test nation.

That prospect steadily dwindled as rain saturated the outfield at the University Oval, reducing the number of overs remaining to New Zealand to score the 264 it still needed for victory.

Smith's 24th Test century, Kallis's 42nd and Rudolph's sixth provided the batting highlights of a match played on a wicket which gave up runs only grudgingly.

South Africa's 26-year-old right-armer Vernon Philander was the best bowler on show, taking 4-72 in the first innings and 1-29 in the second to finish with match figures of 5-101. Philander now has 35 wickets from only five Test matches at an average of 14.

SA beat NZ by 6 wickets, seal ODI series

Napier: Morne Morkel took five wickets and Hashim Amla hit 92 runs as South Africa coasted to a six-wicket, series-clinching win over New Zealand in the second one-day cricket international on Wednesday.

Morkel (5-38) and Lonwabo Tsotsobe (3-43), provoked a collapse which saw New Zealand slump from 163-2 in the 33rd over to be all out for an inadequate 230 in 47.3 overs. With the win, South Africa takes a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Brendon McCullum marked his 200th one-day international by top-scoring with 85 for New Zealand, but when he was out New Zealand lost its last six wickets for 55 runs, including 5-35 between the 30th and 40th overs.

Amla then directed a composed run chase which saw South Africa reach its winning target with almost 12 overs to spare.

South Africa was 192-4 when Amla was dismissed in the 32nd over, needing only 39 runs to clinch a match and series victory.

Captain A.B. de Villiers steered the rest of the run chase, making 31 not out and sealing the win with a casual single from the second ball of the 39th over.

"I thought we played consistently well today," de Villiers said. "Right from the start the boys had the right attitude.

"We had a good presence in the field and Morne bowled exceptionally well and set the trend for us and the boys just followed."

Morkel's was a remarkable bowling performance. He had 0-33 late in his spell but then sliced through New Zealand's middle and lower order to take five wickets for five runs.

Amla then made light of the run chase on a pitch on which 300 was easily achievable. He lost his opening partner, Jacques Kallis, in the third over when South Africa was only 11, but remained confident and kept up a high run-rate from the outset.

Amla found the short boundaries at McLean Park with ease, taking 24 of his first 26 runs from fours and reaching his 50 from 51 balls.

"It's always nice when someone starts well for you up the order," de Villiers said. "It takes a lot of pressure off the middle order and we had that today, and it made it very easy for the middle order.

McCullum put on 107 for the second wicket with Martin Guptill (58) to set a solid foundation for the New Zealand innings. But he was one of three batsmen dismissed during New Zealand's batting powerplay as the innings quickly unraveled.

Kane Williamson was out for 13 in the first over of the powerplay, McCullum followed in the third over — after scoring his 85 runs from 96 balls with 11 fours and two sixes.

Jesse Ryder fell for a duck one over later as New Zealand slumped from 163-2 to 179-5 in the overs which were supposed to be the most productive of its innings.

Tsotsobe dismissed McCullum and Williamson after removing opener Rob Nicol (11) in the sixth over of the innings. The tall left-armer made up for dropping an easy caught-and-bowled chance when McCullum was on 18 and New Zealand 51-1.

Morkel then hastened the collapse, removing James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee (28), Tarun Nethula and finally Andrew Ellis (19) to end the New Zealand innings.

He was twice on a hat trick, dismissing Franklin and Mills with successive balls, before doing the same with Southee and Nethula.

Legspinner Nethula had an eventful one-day international debut. He was bowled with the first ball of his first one-day innings, was hit for four from the first ball of his first one-day over and had two catches dropped from his bowling.

But he battled back to dismiss Amla and Duminy, South Africa's top-scorers, and to finish with 2-60 from his 10 overs.

"I guess 8-60 odd is not really acceptable so we have to have to take a good, hard look at ourselves there," McCullum said.

"We got ourselves into a position from which we should have kicked on and got some impetus later on and got around that 300 mark. But we obviously weren't able to do so."

The third match is in Auckland on Saturday.

De Villiers ton powers SA to win over NZ

Wellington: South Africa captain A.B. de Villiers made 106 not out to steer his side to a comfortable six-wicket win over New Zealand in Saturday's opening one-day international.

De Villiers lifted South Africa after it had slumped to 17-2 and 35-3 in reply to New Zealand's moderate total of 253-9, and guided the visitors to victory with 28 balls to spare.

The skipper scored his 106 off the exact same number of balls. He shared a 90-run fourth wicket partnership with J.P. Duminy who overcame a difficult beginning to make 46 from 74 balls, and the pair stemmed the tide for South Africa after the loss of Hashim Amla for 8, Graeme Smith for 9 and Jacques Kallis for 13.

South Africa was 125-3 when Duminy was out and de Villiers then settled into a steady partnership with Far du Plessis which kept the visitors well ahead of the required run rate.

Du Plessis (66 from 49 balls) blasted nine fours and one six in an innings which forced New Zealand onto the defensive, reaching his half century with a six off Doug Bracewell immediately after de Villiers had reached his century.

While du Plessis went for the long ball, de Villiers aimed to accumulate steadily, hitting only three fours and four sixes while 51 of his runs came from singles. He continually found gaps in the New Zealand field, which left his Black Caps opposite Brendon McCullum with few options to halt the flow of runs.

"A solid performance by the boys," de Villiers said. "We did really well in the field to restrict them to 250-odd.

"They had a couple of partnerships going but they didn't extend it and that's where we won the game. We kept picking up wickets at the right times."

De Villliers said Duminy's steadying knock was vital, laying the foundation for the captain and du Plessis to chase down the runs.

"J.P. struggled a bit early on. He didn't hit the ball as sweetly as he wanted to but he played a vital knock to extend the innings and we didn't lose wickets at the wrong times.

"We left it late enough for Faf to come in and play an impact innings. He did extremely well, went better than a run a ball and supported me really well."

Earlier, McCullum took advantage of second and third chances to top score with 56 in his team's total of 253-9 from 50 overs.

McCullum was twice given out, including to the first ball of his innings, and twice had those decisions reversed by replays, allowing him to play a key role in New Zealand's low-key batting effort.

Coming in at first drop, McCullum was judged lbw first ball when he played no shot to a delivery from Lonwalu Tsotsobe (2-41) and was struck on the pad. He challenged the decision and television replays showed the ball bouncing over the stumps.

McCullum had moved on to 3 and New Zealand was 43-1 when he was given out caught by de Villiers, off the bowling of left-arm spinner Robin Peterson. McCullum called for the review and again replays proved he was not out.

McCullum went on to reach his 21st half century in one-day internationals from 62 balls and with two fours and two sixes. He put on 79 for New Zealand's third wicket with Kane Williamson before being caught by Peterson off the bowling of Kallis in the 30th over when New Zealand was 137-3.

Williamson (55) then became New Zealand most effective run-gatherer, givinge some impetus to an innings which was otherwise restricted by accurate and varied South African bowling.

He reached his half century from 59 balls with four four before fallingin the 41st over when New Zealand was 194-5.

"I thought 250 was competitive but we'd have to bowl exceptionally well and looking back in hindsight one of us needed to go on and get a hundred as AB did," McCullum said.

"It was a little bit short with the bat, probably. We had the foundation to be able to launch later on and get that 270-280 total and if we'd got that, taking those first three wickets in a hurry we were more than competitive."

SA edge NZ by 3 runs to clinch T20 series

Auckland: Marchant de Lange took two wickets in a final over on Wednesday that conceded only three runs as South Africa blunted New Zealand's run chase to win the third Twenty20 international by three runs and take the series 2-1.

New Zealand started the last over needing seven runs with five wickets in hand to overhaul South Africa's total of 165-7, but failed spectacularly to finish on 162-7 in one of its most embarrassing international defeats.

Even a no-ball by De Lange from the last delivery of the innings couldn't save New Zealand. When he overstepped, the New Zealanders needed a four from the last ball to win the match and series. But Tim Southee, newly at the crease and facing his first ball, played and missed outside off stump.

"When the pressure came on we were found wanting," New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said. "Credit to South Africa, they kept the pressure on us and we didn't respond. Obviously we foundered at the end. That's not the way we want to play cricket. In pressure situations we want to play ruthlessly and to put other teams away, but we didn't do that tonight."

New Zealand had been coasting to victory when Jesse Ryder, recalled to its lineup for the first time since December after overcoming a calf injury, compiled a half-century from 37 balls.

Ryder hit five fours and two sixes after Rob Nicol (33) and Martin Guptill (26) had put on 65 for the first wicket in only six overs.

Brendon McCullum furthered the run chase, scoring 18 from 19 balls to reach 112-3, leaving New Zealand only 53 from the last eight overs.

When Nathan McCullum was out on the second ball of the 16th over, New Zealand was 142-4 and needing 24 runs from 28 balls.

But New Zealand began to lose its way from that point. Ryder was held scoreless for eight consecutive deliveries by tight South African bowling. He was out for 52, leaving New Zealand on 158-5 and needing eight to win with seven balls remaining.

Nothing from that point went to plan.

De Lange bowled a series of fast, short-pitched deliveries from which a succession of New Zealand batsmen were unable to score. The New Zealanders were bent on hitting boundaries and, as each ball passed without a run being scored, the match tipped in South Africa's favor with De Lange and offspinner Johan Botha maintaining an unrelenting pressure.

Ryder tried to reverse-sweep Botha and was caught by Morne Morkel at fine leg. Nathan McCullum top-edged another contrived shot and was caught by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers from the third ball of De lange's final over. A scoreless Doug Bracewell, hitting out, was caught by Hashim Amla two balls later.

James Franklin faced the prospect of hitting a six from the final ball of the innings to win the match but was reprieved when De Lange overstepped. New Zealand scrambled a single and Southee was left with the strike and a free hit, needing a four to win the match.

De Lange bowled a fast ball wide of off stump and Southee, anchored on the crease and swinging blindly, was unable to make contact.

Botha finished with 2-20 off four overs and De Lange with 2-36. Earlier, Nicol took two wickets, held two catches and effected a run out after New Zealand won the toss and bowled.

Nicol claimed 2-20 from three overs, and took a catch in the deep to dismiss dangerman Richard Levi for 11 when South Africa was 20-1.

Levi scored an unbeaten 117 — the fastest century in Twenty20 internationals, including a world record 13 sixes — to guide South Africa to an eight-wicket win in Sunday's second match after New Zealand had won the first by six wickets.

Nicol also caught Albie Morkel for 10 and completed a brilliant run out off his own bowling to dismiss the innings' top-scorer, JP Duminy, for 38.

NZ beat SA by 6 wickets in 1st T20

Wellington: Martin Guptill scored his sixth half century in successive innings as New Zealand beat South Africa by six wickets in the opening Twenty20 cricket international on Friday.

Guptill carried his bat for 78 as New Zealand, with 148-4, surpassed South Africa's 20-over total of 147-6 with four balls to spare.

Guptill's purple patch of form has seen him score half centuries in a test, three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match against Zimbabwe and he continued the momentum into the first of New Zealand's three Twenty20s against South Africa. The second match is at Hamilton on Sunday.

JP Duminy made 41 and Justin Ontong 32 as South Africa's top scorers but its innings was poorly paced and it failed to hit a boundary from the fourth to the 14th overs.

New Zealand chose offspinner Nathan McCullum to open the bowling and used four spinners on a drop-in pitch which was often two-paced and which confounded South Africa's big hitters.

McCullum bowled his four overs at a cost of only 16 runs as South Africa got away to a slow start from which it struggled to recover.

Big-hitting Richard Levi made only 13 from 12 balls and Hashim Amla 19 from 15. Colin Ingram was out for a duck, stumped by Brendon McCullum off his brother's bowling, and South Africa captain AB de Villiers failed to break the shackles as he managed only 8 from 19 balls in an innings which lacked a boundary.

"We didn't start well, especially myself, and that put a lot of pressure on the rest of the boys," de Villiers said

"We came back reasonably well and I thought we fielded well but I made a couple of mistakes captaincy-wise.

"We weren't surprised New Zealand opened with a spinner — we expected something in that line from them and we should be professional enough to adapt."

Duminy made a slow start, lacking timing and placement, but he gradually grew in confidence and eventually took his 41 runs from 37 balls, batting into the 18th over.

Ontong survived a confident appeal for a caught behind when he was 7 and South Africa was 75 and when replays showed his attempted sweep off Kane Williamson skidded off the blade of his bat, onto his shoulder and to McCullum running back behind the stumps.

He shrugged off the incident to hit four straight sixes off Williamson and to give the South African innings its greatest impetus.

Guptill carefully measured New Zealand's run chase, working methodically through partnerships of 49 with Rob Nicol (13), 41 with Brendon McCullum (16) and 37 with Kane Williamson (24).

His innings included five fours and four sixes, including a massive six off Lonwabo Tsotsobe which pitched on the roof of the grandstand overhanging Westpac Stadium, almost 400 feet (120 meters) from the pitch and 100 feet (30 meters) off the ground.

A carefully paced run chase left New Zealand needing six runs from the last over and James Franklin casually knocked off those runs with a two and a four from the first two balls from Johan Botha.

"Martin Guptill is in the form of his life at the moment and he makes the job of chasing runs much easier for the rest of us," McCullum said.

NZ beat Zim by 202 runs to sweep ODI series

Napier: Captain Brendon McCullum hit a commanding century as New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 202 runs in the third one-day international on Thursday, sweeping the three-match series.

McCullum's 119 was his fourth one-day international century and came after a 153-run opening partnership between Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol that propelled New Zealand to 373-8 - their third-highest total in one-day internationals.

Kane Williamson, Nathan McCullum and Tarun Nethula then shared six wickets as New Zealand bowled out Zimbabwe for 171 in 44 overs. Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor top-scored with 65 from 68 balls.

Zimbabwe's chances of challenging New Zealand's giant total all but disappeared when openers Tinotenda Mawoyo and Stuart Matsikenyeri fell with the total at 14. Taylor and wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu (26) put on 77 for the third wicket but when Taibu departed in the 21st over Zimbabwe was on a pedestrian 81-3 and the game was effectively over.

Williamson took 2-13 from three overs, Nathan McCullum 2-21 from three and leg-spinner Nethula 2-41 from 10.

Nethula bowled an outstanding spell, dropping onto a perfect line and length and challenging all batsmen with flight and turn. When he made his debut in the previous match at Whangarei he was the first leg-spinner to play a one-day international for New Zealand in 10 years.

Fast bowler Michael Bates, who was the most recent of six players to make their New Zealand debuts in the series, took 1-24 from eight overs.

Earlier, McCullum built on the foundation laid by Guptill (85 from 69 balls) and Nicol (61 from 63), who shared their second-straight century partnership and their third in one-day internationals.

The skipper reached his century from 79 balls and took his 119 runs from 88 balls before falling to the last ball of the innings.

"It was nice to come in with a few overs to go and to be able to build a good innings," McCullum said. "The way both Martin and Rob batted was great and they've been magnificent for us all series."

Both openers capitalized on reprieves. Nicol was judged lbw to Brian Vitori but the decision was overturned on replay and Guptill was dropped off Vitori's bowling when he was on 4 and New Zealand was 17-0.

The openers fully capitalized on the let-offs. Guptill reached his half century from 38 balls and the pair raised their century partnership in the 15th over before falling to successive deliveries.

Nicol was trapped lbw by off-spinner Prosper Utseya with the last ball of the 22nd over and Guptill was bizarrely stumped off a leg-side wide bowled by left-armer Ray Price with the first ball of the 23rd.

The ball lodged in the crook of wicketkeeper Tatendu Taibu's arm. Guptill did not see it there, and stepped out of his crease as if to take a single. Taibu retrieved the ball and whipped off the bails as Guptill desperately tried to retrieve his ground, doing the splits and ending up spread-eagled on the ground.

McCullum then took charge, hitting seven fours and five sixes in a relatively restrained innings which still punished Zimbabwe for some wayward bowling. Vitori (1-105) was particularly expensive, continually bowling full tosses on a ground famous for its short square boundaries.

McCullum was not overly aggressive early, but picked up the pace, htting his second half century from only 27 balls as New Zealand accelerated its run rate. He reached his hundred in the 48th over, from 107 balls and with five fours and four sixes.

New Zealand won the first match by 90 runs and the second by 141 runs.

NZ progress to 331/5 at stumps on Day 1

Napier: Captain Ross Taylor struck his sixth Test century as New Zealand moved in fits and starts to 331-5 after being sent into bat on Thursday's first day of its one-off Test against Zimbabwe.

Taylor was 111 not out at stumps, helping New Zealand build solidly on the 124-run opening partnership between Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill.

McCullum made 83, Guptill 51 and former captain Daniel Vettori a valuable 38 as New Zealand prospered despite losing what was thought to be an important toss.

"It wasn't a bad day, especially being sent in on what was being talked about as a pretty good pitch to bowl on," McCullum said.

"To have got through the day and to have a player on 111 not out at stumps made a good day for us. The pitch showed a bit and our attack may be a bit more potent than their's was in days to come."

More grass than usual was left on the pitch at McLean Park and it was expected to assist the quicker bowlers, prompting New Zealand to name a four-pronged pace attack.

Zimbabwe was more conservative and named an attack based around the 22-year-old quick Kyle Jarvis, his opening partner Brian Vitori and the brothers Shingirai and Hamilton Masakadza. Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer was named in place of veteran left-arm spinner Ray Price, who has a groin injury.

Jarvis was the best of the Zimbabwe bowlers, bowling an exacting line throughout the day and finishing with McCullum's wicket at a cost of 56 runs from 22 overs. He twice beat the outside edge of McCullum's bat in the first over of the day and referred his appeal for lbw against McCullum to the television umpire in the fifth over when he was 16 not out.

McCullum survived and went on to reach his half century in 128 minutes from 86 balls, seeing New Zealand to lunch without the loss of a wicket — a rarity for any side sent in to bat.

Guptill went on to his seventh half century in Tests in 144 minutes off 99 balls but was out shortly after when he edged a rearing delivery from Shingirai Matakadza to wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu.

The century opening partnership was the first three-figure opening partnership in a New Zealand first innings for eight years and 55 matches, since Stephen Fleming and Mark Richardson achieved the mark against England at Nottingham in 2004.

After Guptill's departure, New Zealand quickly lost Kane Williamson (7) to a run-out to slip to 131-2.

McCullum re-established the innings in a 64-run partnership with Taylor but, when he was out early in the final session, the hosts also soon lost Dean Brownlie caught behind for a duck for no score and was 196-4.

Vettori then restored the upper hand to the New Zealand batsmen with his bright innings of 38. He rushed to 21 from only 13 balls with four fours and took away the brief advantage the Zimbabwe bowlers had enjoyed.

He was out stumped off Cremer but Taylor saw New Zealand to stumps without further loss, adding 53 in an unbroken partnership with B.J. Watling who was 15 not out at stumps.