Jesse Ryder showed a serious touch of understatement last night when he remarked that "everything seems to be going quite well for me".
His 201, which set up New Zealand's third-highest test total of 619 for nine declared yesterday, maintained a rich vein of form since the West Indies tests
in December. He's run up scores of 89, 57, 59 not out, 102, 21 and 201 to make him New Zealand's most in-form batsman.
"It is definitely a good feeling," he said of his innings, the highest played on McLean Park in its eight tests.
"I just went out and stuck to my game plan. I can't ask for anything more at this stage of my career."
Ryder reckoned he had never batted as long as he did in this innings, 8 hours 9 minutes, but his concentration had been good. He had no target in mind - "I was just batting ball by ball".
When an Indian journalist told him his US$160,000 fee for the upcoming Indian Premier League to play for the Bangalore franchise represented "daylight robbery", Ryder quipped: "I'll take it."
It was a special day for vice-captain Brendon McCullum too, with 115, his third century but his first in 44 innings since Zimbabwe in 2005. He admitted to feeling emotional at reaching three figures.
"It's been far too long for my liking and, no disrespect to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, to get one against a top-quality side means a lot."
McCullum is delighted with the state of the test, which New Zealand must win to have a chance of winning the series. "It's going to take a lot of effort to dismiss these guys but we couldn't ask for a better position than we're in at the moment." David Leggat
