Emotions high for Baz swansong
New Zealand's cricket team have run a gamut of emotions this week after they slumped to a heavy first Test loss to Australia then won three awards at their country's premier sports awards on Thursday.
Now they have the opportunity to send captain Brendon McCullum into international retirement with a possible Test victory that would also prevent trans-Tasman rivals Austalia from reclaiming the world's top ranking in Test cricket.
It is that emotion, however, that McCullum and team management have been attempting to rein in before the second match begins at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.
"We've talked among the group and thought we were a bit too keen in the last Test. Sometimes when you want something so much, you start to tighten up a little bit," McCullum told reporters on the eve of his 101st and final Test.
“The focus is to get back to what's worked for us in the last three years, play with a lot of enthusiasm, play with a smile on the face and try and seize the key moments when they arrive."
It was Steve Smith's side who seized the key moments in the Wellington contest, which they captured by an innings and 52 runs.
"Australia, if you give them an inch, they know how to take it," McCullum said. "That's why they've been such a good team for such a long period of time.
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