Opening is the toughest place to bat: Martin Guptill

Jan 6, 2019 at 3:51 AM

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Opening is the toughest place to bat: Martin Guptill

Martin Guptill was having a disastrous time in India. After failing to perform well in the Test series, things did not improve in the first three matches of the ODI series too as he could score only 39 runs. But he finally came good with the bat in the fourth ODI as he scored 72 runs and helped his team to post 260 runs in the do-or-die clash. The score was enough for the Kiwis to level the five-match series as they defeated the hosts by 19 runs.

It was not a fluent innings from the Kiwi batsman, who is the only player from his country to score a double-century in ODIs, but he will definitely take a lot of confidence from the dodgy knock.

“It wasn’t as fluent as I would have liked. But at the end of the day, I’ll take 72 any day of the week,” Guptill said on Wednesday (October 26). “But no… it was tough. Early on the ball came on and bit more and you were able to hit through the line bit better but once the ball became a bit softer, the scoring became a lot tougher and you had to work for your runs, you had to grind it out a wee bit. I was happy to get through that little period.”

The underperforming opener started his innings by playing out a maiden from Umesh Yadav. However, he released an array of shots once Dhawal Kulkarni came to bowl.

Speaking about his strategy to hit over the fielders, he said:“It’s just the way I’ve played my one-day cricket in the last one year to 18 months.I enjoy hitting the ball over the top when I can. So I just tried to make use of the ball when it was hard and I got away with it today. I think in the end it [electing to bat] was the right decision. I think we saw how the pitch played. It was a lot easier to score when the ball was a bit newer. The ball getting a bit older and bit softer, scoring became a bit tougher. So at the end of the day, it was a great call.”

After finding the much-needed confidence, the Kiwi batsman said that he would look to spend some more time in the middle when his team takes on India in the series decider  in Visakhapatnam on Saturday (October 29).

“Cricket is a tough game. Opening the batting is probably the toughest place to bat. As an opener you’re going to get a ball, you’re going to nick off early on and things like that happen,” Guptill said. “But you know you just got to fight through that because if come out the other side, you can score some runs.

“The last game in Mohali I started to get some old touch back and today, while I wasn’t as fluent as I would have liked, you know I was able to bat for a period of time. So going forward to Visakhapatnam, hopefully, I can spend a bit more time in the middle and then create a few partnerships with the guys I’m batting with. Hopefully, we can score some big runs.”

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