On a slow and wearing pitch and up against a quality bowling attack like South Africa, Martin Guptill lit up Hamilton with a ferocious knock. Courtesy an unbeaten 180 off just 138 deliveries, New Zealand made a stroll out of their target of 280 in the fourth ODI at Hamilton. By the virtue of such a fine batting display from the returning Guptill, New Zealand leveled the series 2-2.
In the due course of his superb knock, Guptill became the first ever batsman to complete three scores of over 180 in ODIs. The right-hander’s knock included 11 maximums as he annihilated the South African bowlers. Post his knock, Guptill was delighted and rated it as his best till now.
“It’s pretty up there, possibly No.1. I’m reasonably happy with how today went without a lot of preparation,” Guptill said.
“It was difficult to bat all round, two-paced, turning, slower balls gripping, it wasn’t easy, and I wanted to create a good partnership. I did that reasonably well and fortunately I was able to get a few out of the middle.”
Despite getting off to a slow start, Guptill soon made amends as he began taking the aggressive route.
“I wanted to give myself a chance really, have a look at what it was doing,” he said.
“I got a few away and developed a strike rate early at the top and carried it through.”
Skipper Kane Williamson was in full awe of Guptill as he said:
“I said to Martin when he came off, that’s probably his best, and he’s done it a few times to be fair so there are a few tight comparisons,” Williamson said. “In a chasing effort on what wasn’t an easy surface and to hit the ball the way he did and play with the freedom we know he can and do something special against the best team in the world was a special, world-class effort.”