De Grandhomme's 71-ball maiden ton stretches lead past 300

Sat, Dec 2, '17

Colin de Grandhomme capitalised on a strong platform laid by fifties from Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls to raze West Indies with a stunning onslaught that all but batted them out of the Wellington Test. Along with Tom Blundell's debut fifty, de Grandhomme hammered a 71-ball maiden ton, the second fastest by a New Zealand batsman in Tests, to thrust New Zealand to 447 for 9, a lead of 313.

De Grandhomme has one of the strongest bottom hands in international cricket, but it seemed West Indies weren't aware. They attacked his ribs, and when that didn't work, they fed him on his pads. His first eight boundaries were through the leg side, forcing West Indies to change their line of attack, but by then, he was in unstoppable hitting rhythm.

He struck 14 boundaries - 11 fours and three sixes - before chipping a catch to long-on off Roston Chase in search for another. He contributed almost 60% of New Zealand's 180 runs in the final session.

ESPNcricinfo has the full report and scorecard