‘He did it again’. I have lost how many times I made that statement about New Zealand dashing batsman Brendon McCullum in the recent times. But I am yet forced to say it again as he hits an unbeaten 158 from 64 balls as Derbyshire Falcons lost by 60 runs against Birmingham Bears in the NatWest T20 Blast at Edgbaston.
Going into the details, McCullum hit 13 fours and 11 sixes in the highest ever individual T20 score in England. As a result Birmingham amassed 242-2 in their 20 overs which second-highest T20 total of all time.
Wes Durston (43) and Hamish Rutherford (39) impressed again for the Falcons but they lost wickets at vital times whilst trying to keep up with a rising run rate, and they were bowled out for 182 with two balls to go.
After being put into bat, the reigning NatWest T20 Blast champions got off to the perfect start as the opening pair of Captain Varun Chopra and McCullum scored 74 runs in the six Powerplay overs.
McCullum passed fifty in 23 balls as Birmingham raced to 117 without loss at the halfway stage, before he brought up his century just 19 deliveries later to power the hosts to 158-0 from 12.4 overs.
