Twitter Reaction: Brendon McCullum retires, Australia claim Trans-Tasman Trophy

Australia leapfrogged India to attain the No.1 Test rankings after they convincingly beat hosts New Zealand by 7 wickets to lift the Trans-Tasman trophy.

Chasing a comfortable target of 201, Australia ended day four at 70/. Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja batted solidly before the pair was separated by Tim Southee. Usman Khawaja (45) was the first dismissal of the day as he edged Tim Southee (1 for 30) to Brendon McCullum in the slips, in the New Zealand captain’s last major contribution in Test cricket. The match appeared to meet its end by lunch but Burns’ dismissal for a well made 65 delayed the victory. Captain Smith, however, maintained his aggressive approach and the target was mowed down pretty easily in the end. Steven Smith (53) ended with a half-century to his name.

Adam Voges, who had struck a double century in the first Test, did the honors of hitting the winnings runs. Joe Burns was adjudged as the ‘Man of the Match.’

The 2-0 series sweep also completes a near-perfect Test summer for Australia. They had previously beaten the Black Caps 2-0 in the three-match home series and then carted the West Indies by a margin of 2-0. The Australian team will now travel to South Africa for a three-match Twenty20 series against the Proteas starting on March 4, before heading to India for the World T20.

The series marked the end of Blackcaps legend Brendon McCullum’s international career. He had an eventful farewell Test where he struck the fastest Test century, breaking Sir Viv Richards’ longstanding record. McCullum will still feature in franchise T20 cricket though.

https://twitter.com/AltCricket/status/702277374654681088

https://twitter.com/jbellnz1/status/702336245066674184

https://twitter.com/ArjGiese/status/702308384930828288