Felt embarrassed while breaking Viv's record: Brendon McCullum

Christchurch Having set the record for the fastest century in Test cricket at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday veteran New Zealand star Brendon McCullum said he almost felt embarrassed while going past the previous milestone set by his idol Viv RiichardsNew Zealandrsquos Brendon McCullum celebrates the fastest century in test cricket against Australia on the first day of the second International Cricket Test match at Hagley Park Oval in Christchurch New Zealand PicAFPWalking in when New Zealand were in trouble at 323 on the opening day of the first Test against Australia McCullum smashed 100 runs off 54 deliveries to pull the hosts out of trouble McCullum who completed his century with a boundary scored 145 off 79 balls before Nathan Lyon pulled off a superb catch off James Pattinsons bowling to send him back to the pavilionHis hurricane knock helped the Kiwis post a first innings total of 370 runs Australia were on 571 at stumpsMcCullum thus went past the previous mark set by West Indies legend Viv Richards who had taken 56 balls to reach triple figures against England at St Johns Antigua in the 198586 season It is a fitting swansong for the 34yearold Kiwi who has announced that he will retire after this TestI was trying to hit every ball for four or six I wasnt aware of the record but very respectful of all those whove held it before Itd be nice to win the Test match thatd be the most important thing McCullum told the media after the end of the days playViv Richards was my idol growing up Its nice to be able to go past him but jeez he was a cracking player an incredible cricketer Im almost a bit embarrassed to go past him to be honest Hopefully he enjoyed a bit of the strokemaking well call it he addedThe day did not have a perfect start for the New Zealand captain He lost the toss and Australia captain Steven Smith asked the hosts to bat first on a green wicketMcCullum survived a couple of close calls early in his innings most notably when he tried to smash a Pattinson delivery and was brilliantly caught by a diving Mitchell Marsh at gullyHowever the umpires checked the replays and confirmed that Pattinson had delivered a noballI thought it was four as soon as I hit it then I turned around and it was their third great catch of the day Steve Smiths catches were phenomenal as well We talked about that they do push the front line a little bit Youre always hopeful but you dont anticipate it actually being a noball so it was quite a nice reprieve McCullum saidIt probably loosens you up a little bit and relaxes you a bit more You know youre probably not meant to be out there so you might as well play with even more freedomWhen asked when he felt that it could be his day the Kiwi captain saidProbably second ball when I had an almighty filthy slog and it went over the slips cordon for four When youre confronted with wickets like that you know youre going to have to be pretty aggressive and need some luck and we got quite a bit of luck That partnership between Corey Anderson and I was great fun but also instrumental for us to hopefully set the Test match upIve been on the other side many times and you walk off and think jeez if Id reined it in a little bit who knows what would have happened On that wicket the feedback from the boys was that at any stage the ball could have your name on it I tried to be as positive as I possibly could and hoped things would roll our wayWhen Corey came out he played aggressively and we started to get some momentum We were able to knock them off that difficult length at the top of off stump If youre just trying to hang in there on that wicket around the top of off stump youre in big trouble Its nice when things come off he added