Napier, March 27: Having scored a century after four years, only the third of his career and the first against a quality attack, Brendon McCullum made his joy evident on the pitch as he leapt to celebrate. The Kiwi was all smiles off it as well on Friday.

"It’s been a long time; there was a bit of emotion there as well when I got to three figures. It’s been far too long between centuries for my liking. It’s nice as well to get it against a side as good as India. It was a good time to bat," McCullum said.

"So long between hundreds, and some 90s and 80s between that as well, and knowing at the back of my mind, no disrespect to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, to get one against a top quality side like India means a lot," he added.

"I’m just slowly starting to work it out, which seems a bit strange after 40-odd Tests, but I’m starting to find probably the right tempo I have to bat at. It’s definitely helped with the results I’m starting to get, but you always want to do more. An average in the early 30s is not where I want to be in the long term, I want to bump that up to 40-45," he said.

He also expressed the desire to bat higher. "You always want to bat higher because you want to make more contributions to the side. But the way our batting order sits at the moment, with Jesse coming in at five and doing so well, and Frankie (James Franklin) has done well, and you’ve got Jake (Jacob Oram) to come in, so my role is to bat with Daniel and the tail. That’s what I’ve got to try and harness at the moment, and whatever happens down the road happens," he said.