Sri Lanka awestruck by McCullum's innings

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews felt helpless as Brendon McCullum's batting explosion sent his team scurrying from the outset of the first Test.

Match Report: Record win for New Zealand

Mathews says New Zealand skipper McCullum's 195 off 134 balls on day one at Hagley Oval was among the most spectacular he has witnessed in any format and felt almost impossible to rein in.

"You can't do much when a guy walks in and gets almost a double hundred in a couple of sessions.

"It was an unbelievable innings, one of the best I've seen. He was playing like a Twenty20."

If McCullum's last shot had cleared the boundary rather than been caught in the deep, he would have scored Test cricket's fastest double century by 19 balls.

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The 33-year-old was less forthcoming about his knock, preferring to deflect attention to his team's eight-wicket win.

However, he hinted he won't be looking to slow down any time soon, believing it is important to lead by example in encouraging an attacking approach to Tests.

"I want to make sure we're playing aggressive cricket and moving the game forward, looking for results," he said.

"You remember your Test wins, you don't necessarily remember your draws."

Matthews, whose own batting this year has been exceptional, says he won't forget an innings which featured 11 sixes and 18 fours in a hurry.'

"He was smashing it, whoever came his way.

"It's one of those innings where he had a lot of fun, I would have thought."