Martin Guptill is one of the most underrated openers that world cricket has ever seen. On his day, he could decimate the best bowling attacks in world cricket with effortless ease. The right-handed batter made his debut in international cricket back in January 2009. During his illustrious career, Guptill played 47 Tests, 198 ODIs, and 122 T20Is.
His numbers in Test cricket did not do justice to his potential, as he only averaged 29.39. However, he was a phenomenal white-ball player. The Auckland-born was the top-ranked T20I batter at one time and rose to No. 5 in the rankings for batters in ODI cricket.
Speaking of the highlight of Guptill’s career, it has to be his double century in the 2015 ODI World Cup against the West Indies. He became only the second player to register a double century at the marquee event after Chris Gayle had smashed a double century against Zimbabwe earlier in the same edition of the tournament.
Talking about Guptill’s knock, it came in the fourth quarter-final, played at the Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand on March 21, 2015. After Brendon McCullum won the toss and opted to bat first, Guptill took the Caribbean bowlers to the cleaners with his ferocious batting display. He punished even the good balls as West Indies skipper Jason Holder was left searching for answers.
The right-handed batter managed to carry the bat, finishing unbeaten on 237 off 163 balls. He belted 24 fours and 11 sixes during his epic knock, scoring at a mind-boggling strike rate of 145.39. Two of the 11 sixes he hit had landed on the roof. The second-highest run-getter in New Zealand’s innings was Ross Taylor, who made just 42.
The home side finished on a staggering 393/6 after batting the entire 50 overs. Only Daren Sammy conceded runs at under six runs and over.
In reply, Chris Gayle got the Windies off to a flying start. However, once Adam Milne dismissed him for a 33-ball 61, it became an even steeper mountain to climb for the Caribbean side. The likes of Andre Russell, Daren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, and Holder played enterprising cameos. However, it was not enough to even take the West Indies close to New Zealand’s score.
In the end, the West Indies were bowled out for just 250 runs in 30.3 overs. Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers for the Black Caps as he finished with figures of 4/44 in 10 overs.
Samuels would not want to remember this match, as he had dropped Guptill’s catch in the first over at square leg. The latter’s knock of 237* continues to be the second-highest score in an ODI innings by a batter, behind Rohit Sharma’s 264 versus Sri Lanka in 2014.
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