Martin Guptill 237* in ICC World Cup 2015
The 28-year-old batsman was dropped in the first over before going on to score 237 off 163 balls - including 24 fours and 11 sixes, of which one found the roof of Wellington's Westpac Stadium in the final over. Just three balls in, Marlon Samuels dropped the Aucklander and Guptill thanked him by finding the first of his many boundaries before Brendon McCullum fell for 12 runs, West Indies captain Jason Holden rising to the occasion to take a stunning catch at deep cover.
Guptill then survived two
appeals for lbw, chipping away at the attack in between times, and he remained
in place after West Indies claimed their second wicket in the 16th over. Meanwhile
Guptill was moving towards his half-century and reached it with a single from
the last ball of the 20th over to put New Zealand on 105 for two. Nothing could
stop the Derbyshire batsman and after making his seventh ODI hundred he took
off his helmet and saluted the roaring capacity crowd. Corey Anderson was then
caught by an off-pace delivery from Russell, shuffling across to pull the ball
across to Gayle at midwicket for 15.
Guptill's double-ton was within
reach and he wasted no time gunning for it, achieving his personal best of 192
with a four off Russell before partner Grant Elliott was dismissed on review. The
South Africa-born all-rounder had bolstered Guptill's charge with 27 runs off
11 balls, including two fours and two sixes, but he was given out despite
appealing Taylor's claim for lbw. Guptill ignored that disappointment to fire a
four that brought him to 199 and the brink of greatness. Then, from the first
ball of the 48th over, he drilled Russell's delivery to long-off for a four
that made World Cup history.
The Black Caps would lose
Luke Ronchi (nine) before the break, courtesy of Taylor's yorker that ended up
with Benn, but Guptill was uncowed and ploughed on to register a mammoth score
of 237. Of the two sixes he hit in the final over, one travelled over 110
metres to end up on the roof of the stadium, and he left the field to a
standing ovation.
Martin Guptill 237* in ICC World Cup 2015
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