Brendon McCullum dropped a sitter, conceded byes between his legs and had a finger cracked while batting in the fourth one-day international against England on Wednesday.
His uncomfortable 58 did not ultimately translate to a New Zealand series victory either - the cliffhanger at Napier's McLean Park ended in a tie - but all in all it ended up a pretty successful day for New Zealand's vice-captain.
Late on Wednesday night, as the players dissected a run chase for 341 that slipped from their grasp, McCullum was undoubtedly the big winner as the Indian Premier League's player auction unfolded in Mumbai.
McCullum, the last New Zealand player to be offered a contract for the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCC I) twenty/20 venture, emerged as the Black Caps' star attraction, as Kolkata successfully bid $US700,000 ($NZ887,874) for his services - a massive $US525,000 hike on his base contract.
All-rounder Jacob Oram ($US675,000) and Vettori ($US625,000) also made startling gains on their sign-on salaries - $US475,000 and $US400,000 respectively - as the IPL's eight franchises indulged in a frantic bidding war to form their rosters before the inaugural tournament starts on April 18.
Oram, now rated the world's leading ODI all-rounder, was snapped up by the Chennai Super Kings while Vettori is headed for the capital, New Delhi, and the Daredevils to play alongside blazing Indian opener Virender Sehwag.
Other New Zealanders to be auctioned off were retirement-bound former captain Stephen Fleming ($US350,000, Chennai) and Scott Styris, who received a $US25,000 boost when he was picked up by Hyderabad for a $US175,000 per annum deal for three seasons.
‘‘It's a weird feeling,'' Oram said, after contemplating his net worth. ‘‘I've never been in a situation where that sort of money has been thrown around or talked about and to be right in the mix of it is kind of surreal, and pleasant,'' he said.
The New Zealand players, minus Fleming, followed the auction via text message or the Internet in the hotel bar.
‘‘We were basically sitting there having a few beers at the hotel celebrating Jamie's wonderful knock [Jamie How's 139], the wonderful game that it was.
‘‘We were getting information through friends, family and a little bit on cricinfo. It wasn't live; it was coming through in dribs and drabs.''
Oram admitted he was gobsmacked when he realised how high Chennai was willing to go. ‘‘It took my breath away, to be honest. I was pretty speechless for a while.''
McCullum discovered he was set up for life at the same time. ‘‘It came via a text to Dan's phone. It was unbelievable and I didn't want to really believe it until it came through on cricinfo about a quarter of an hour later.''
The quartet were still absorbing the news as they flew to Christchurch for Saturday's fifth and final one-dayer.
‘‘I've been talking with Dan on the way down and it was like ‘OK, where to from now?','' Oram said. ‘‘We're assigned to a team, we know half the squad, we know what we're getting paid - I don't know who the coach is and what I'll be doing.''
Oram was also unable to clarify exactly when he would join the tour of England, a two-month exercise that overlaps with the IPL's 44-day schedule.
He could conceivably play four or five games before leaving India, meaning he would not pocket the full amount.
‘‘We'd have to be there for the whole 44 days [to be paid the maximum] and, obviously, that's impossible,'' he said.
Their arrival date in England was being discussed with New Zealand Cricket. ‘‘It's still being worked through when we're going to join but playing for New Zealand and the English tour is priority No 1,'' he said, indicating he would arrive sooner rather than later.
‘‘I'll need warm-ups in England - preparation the same as I would have for other tours,'' he said.
‘‘I don't want to get in a situation when I turn up two or three days before the Lord's test [on May 15] and have egg on my face because I'm not prepared for a test match.''
