• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Happy Birthday Brendon Mccullum Throwback To Kkr Legends Iconic 158 That Still Haunts Rcb

Happy Birthday Brendon McCullum! Throwback to KKR legend's iconic 158* that still haunts RCB

Soumyajit Dutta

Brendon McCullum for KKR in 2008 [Source: @vaibhav_hatwal/X.com]Brendon McCullum for KKR in 2008 [Source: @vaibhav_hatwal/X.com]

On this day, a star was born. A New Zealand star, a legendary wicketkeeper-batter, Brendon McCullum. As he turns 44 years old today, on September 27, 2025, let's take a look at his innings that made him a legend in the world's greatest cricket league, IPL.

McCullum immortalised himself in IPL folklore on the very opening day of the tournament! It was April 18, 2008, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The IPL was not just a new tournament; it was a grand experiment, and McCullum, with a savage, record-shattering 158*, turned that experiment into an overnight blockbuster.

The McCullum blitz that stands for what IPL is now!

The stage was set for a spectacle, but no script could have written what followed. The innings began deceptively, with a maiden over from RCB's Praveen Kumar. But in a flash, the calm vanished. 

A switch flicked, and what erupted was a hurricane of pure raw power. Zaheer Khan was flicked and pulled, Ashley Noffke was dispatched for 23 in a single over, each hit echoing around a stunned Bengaluru crowd. 

McCullum's shot of the night, however, was an audacious scoop off a bewildered Zaheer, down on one knee, sending the ball sailing over fine leg for six.

McCullum treated every bowler with equal contempt. Sunil Joshi was slog-swept, Cameron White and Jacques Kallis were powerless as line and length became irrelevant. The final over, bowled by the previously economical Praveen, was a fitting climax. The first two balls vanished over midwicket before the last was deposited over long-on. 

The whirlwind that never let RCB settle

When the dust settled, McCullum stood unbeaten on 158 from just 73 balls, a record that would stand tall for years, adorned with 10 fours and a then-unthinkable 13 sixes.

The match was over as a contest long before Bangalore's reply began. Punch-drunk from the assault, the home side collapsed to 82, handing Kolkata Knight Riders a mammoth 140-run victory. But the result was almost a footnote. 

The real story was the innings itself, a statement of intent for the IPL, a dream start for KKR, and the birth of a legacy and a trembling hand and legs for RCB for the rest of the seasons.

For KKR fans and cricket purists, this knock is more than a memory; it’s the foundation stone of the IPL's immense popularity that came through the hands of the Kiwi legend. Happy Birthday, Brendon McCullum.