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For Brendon McCullum :
Guptill's 237 not out the best innings
by A.C. De Silva
The World Cup cricket tournament is over, but there is one name
Martin Guptill of New Zealand whose name will not be forgotten for many
years to come. Kiwi opener Guptill's unbeaten 237 put his name into the
record books in that classic game against the West Indies where the
Windies were beaten by 143 runs in a quarter-final at the Wellington
Regional Stadium on that memorable day - March 21st this year.
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Martin Guptill... The man of the match after a fine double hundred for New
Zealand against the West Indies in a World Cup quarter-final
at Wellington. But Guptill had yet to be on the losing side
as Australia won the World Cup by 7 wickets . New Zealand
were 183 all out and Australia 186 for 3. wickets |
Powered by Guptill's double century - the sixth One-Day International
Cricket, the 'Black Caps' posted a monumental 393 for 6 wickets in 50
overs and then bowled out the Windies for 250 with 19.3 overs to spare.
The New Zealand innings had Guptill written all over it after Captain
Brendon McCullum (12) opted to bat. The right-hander broke several
records with his sparkling knock which came in only 163 deliveries and
included 24 boundaries and 11 sixes.
Guptill's massive score of 237 not out is now the highest individual
World Cup score, beating Chris Gayle's 215, which came earlier in the
tournament against Zimbabwe. It is also the second highest ODI score
after Rohit Sharma's 264.
The 28-year-old from Auckland also became the first batsman from his
country to score back-to-back Cup hundreds, following his105 against
Bangladesh in a pool 'A' game in Hamilton on March 13.
Guptill- another record
The Kiwi batting star is now the highest individual World Cup score,
by a New Zealander when he went past his own 189 not out, came two years
ago against England at Southampton.
The double century helped the Black Caps post the highest score in a
World Cup knock-out game, going past Australia's 359 for two in the 2003
final against India.
All this come after Marlon Samuels dropped Guptill at square leg when
he was batting on four.
Windies bowlers - nothing to boast about
Guptill's innings was purely about clean hitting and no slog shots,
not even in the death overs. His ability to score straight down the
ground helped the-hosts hammer 153 runs in the last 10 overs.
Ross Taylor (42), Kane Williamson (33) and Grant Elliot (27) also
played significant knocks as Guptill went about his business.
The West Indies bowlers did not have anything to boast about as all
went for more than six runs per over. Jerome Taylor (3 for 71) and Andre
Russell (2 for 96) were the only ones to pick up wickets, but both went
for more than 9.6 runs per over.
Chasing the huge target, the two-time champions kept scoring at a
high-rate of over eight runs per over. However, they loss wickets
throughout their innings and no batsman rose up to play the anchor's
knock.
Boult - pick of bowlers
Their only 50 plus partnership was for the third-wicket between Chris
Gayle (61) and Marlon Samuels (27). The former smashed eight sixes and
two boundaries in his 33-balls knock before being bowled by Adam Milne
(1 for 42).
The only other notable contribution came down the order from Captain
Jason Holder, who hit a 26-ball 42, which included five fours and two
sixes.
The West Indies kept record of never chasing down a 300 plus target
and have now lost all four matches played in Wellington.
New Zealand pacer Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers as he
notched fantastic figures of 10-3-44-4 to become the highest
wicket-taker of the tournament with 19 scalps. Other than Boult, all
other bowlers proved expensive, going for more than 8.9 runs per over.
Holder - (West Indies) - the losing captain said that the West Indies
missed a chance off Guptill and they paid the price. A set batsman on
that pitch was dangerous and the Windies failed to bowl yorkers which
hurt the West Indies.
The winning Captain Brendon McCullum was quite pleased about
Guptill's fine knock of 237 not out. The innings of Guptill was probably
the best innings that he had seen in his life from a batsman.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand Innings
M. Guptill not out 237
B. McCullum c Holder b Taylor 12
K. Williamson c Gayle b Russell 33
R. Taylor run out (Ramdin, Benn) 42
C. Anderson c Gayle b Russell 15
G. Elliott lbw b Taylor 27
L. Ronchi c Benn b Taylor 09
D. Vettori not out 08
Extras 9lb-2, nb-1, w-7) 10
Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 393
Fall of wickets: 1-27 B. McCullum, 2-89 K. Williamson
3-232 R. Taylor, 4-278 C. Anderson
5-333 G. Eliott, 6-365 L. Ronchi
Did not bat: T. Boult, A. Milne, T. Southee
Bowling: J. Taylor 7-071-3
J. Holder 8-0-76-0 (w-1)
S. Benn 10-1-66-0 (w-2)
A. Russell 10-0-96-2 (nb-1, w-2)
D. Sammy 8-0-38-0 (w-1)
M. Samuels 7-0-44-0
West Indies Innings
C. Gayle b Milne 61
J. Charles b Boult 03
L. Simmons c Guptill b Boult 12
M. Samuels c Vettori b Boult 27
D. Ramdin lbw b Boult 00
J. Carter b Vettori 32
D. Sammy c Ronchi b Anderson 27
A. Russell b Southee 20
J. Holder c Anderson b Vettori 42
J. Taylor c Guptill b Southee 11
S. Benn not out 09
Extras (w-6) 06
Total (30.3 overs) 250
Fall of wickets: 1-4 J. Charles, 2-27 L. Simmons
3-80 M. Samuels, 4-80 D. Ramdin
5-120 C. Gayle, 6-166 D. Sammy
7-173 J. Carter, 8-201 A. Russell
9-221 J. Taylor, 10-250 J. Holder
Bowling: T. Southee 8-1-82-2 (w-1)
T. Boult 10-3-44-4 (w-2)
D. Vettori 6.3-0-58-2
A. Milne 4-0-42-1 (w-2)
C. Anderson 2-0-24-1 (w-1) |
