It was almost the perfect ending to a fairytale day for Brendon McCullum but instead he will have to settle for creating history.
The Black Caps wicketkeeperbatsman played a phenomenal innings of 170 as Otago easily overhauled Auckland's mammoth total of 310 for seven in the State Shield final at Eden Park Outer Oval yesterday.
But with just five runs needed to win, McCullum could not resist one last flourish and attempted to hoist the ball over mid-wicket for six and holed out.
Otago captain Craig Cumming had the honour of hitting the winning runs when he drove the ball out towards the mid-wicket boundary.
The win ended a 20-year drought in the competition for the province but the sevenwicket win will be remembered for McCullum's remarkable knock.
Great is a word that gets bandied about too often but every now and then someone emerges who fits the bill. And based on the evidence of yesterday's performance, McCullum deserves the accolades.
He is fast becoming a cult hero with his ability to pound the best bowling attacks around the world into submission. The 26-year-old has been in brutal form this summer and rewrote the record books with a whirlwind 100 which came off just 52 balls. It is the fastest limited overs century in New Zealand, surpassing Stephen Fleming's 54-ball effort against the FICA World XI in Christchurch in 2004/05.
His 170 included 19 fours and seven sixes, and is the highest score in the one-day tournament, relegating Cantabrian Blair Hartland's 161.
But it was not a one-dimensional innings where he was swinging for the fence each ball. Having exploited the power plays and racked up his second one-day 100, McCullum knuckled down to the serious business of milking singles and nudging his side closer to the victory target.
With Otago well on top of the required run rate he eliminated all unnecessary risks and pushed the ball back down the ground for a succession of singles.
Watching a becalmed McCullum was a tad surreal after the earlier fireworks. It left some twiddling their thumbs in anticipation of the next onslaught. But for the purist it was pure cricket genius. Poetry even.
McCullum underlined just why many people believe he is one of the best one-day batsmen in the world.
Unfortunately for Martin Guptill and Cumming, McCullum 's wonderful innings ensured their digs will only be a footnote in the annals of history.
After being dropped from the test team, Cumming made a point to the selectors with an undefeated 86 off 93 balls. Guptill enhanced his reputation, notching his second one-day 100.
It was a measured and subdued innings from a known stroke-maker and featured just six fours and a six. But it was exactly the type of innings Auckland needed from the talented right hander with captain Richard Jones blazing from the other end and Black Caps all-rounder Scott Styris launching a vicious assault later in the innings.
Jones raised a rapid half century when he shuffled down the wicket and deposited McSkimming over long-on for four.
He guided Auckland through to 124 before Cumming captured his wicket when he tried to slog over mid-wicket and was bowled for 76.
James McMillan and Alex Gidman found themselves victims of a flat track and often disappeared to the boundary.
McMillan went for 27 off one over when Styris pummeled three sixes and two fours on his way to a quickfire 68 off 53 balls.
But Bradley Scott bustled in and kept a lid on the run rate and Nathan McCullum bowled a tight line. It seems silly to say Otago restricted Auckland to 310 but it could easily have been worse.
The Aces may have missed a trick by bringing Rob Nicol in ahead of Gareth Hopkins, who is one of the best finishers in domestic cricket.
At the change of innings Otago felt it was still in with a shot and so it proved.
