Wellington: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum acclaimed opener Martin Guptill’s World Cup record 237 not out against West Indies on Saturday as one of the best ever seen in one-day cricket.
The co-hosts overwhelmed the twice former champions by 143 runs in the final quarter-final at the Wellington Regional Stadium to set up a semi-final against South Africa in Auckland on Tuesday.
“Sublime, just sublime,” McCullum said at the victory presentation. “I will never forget it. The innings we witnessed is probably one of the best we have seen in this format.
“We wanted to make a real statement on the back of Gup’s innings and that’s what we did with the ball and in the field. We will celebrate Gup’s success, the team’s success and then turn our attention to the semi-final.
“It’s pretty hard to compare eras but certainly among the teams I have played in, this is the best. No disrespect to the legends of the past but I am pretty happy with the current team.”
West Indies captain Jason Holder said Guptill, who was dropped on four from the third ball of the match, had played brilliantly.
“A set batman on that pitch is dangerous. Having said that we didn’t bowl our yorkers well,” he added.
Guptill said his innings had not quite sunk in yet.
“We had a couple of good partnerships early which set the game up. We were trying to take each ball as it comes and just build a partnership.
“After I got the hundred I just thought I should probably hit a few boundaries. It was the quickest outfield I have played on here. You got value for your shots.”
New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult, who took four wickets to overhaul Australia’s Mitchell Starc as the tournament’s top wicket taker, said he rated Guptill’s innings as the best he had seen.
“It was nice to go out and bowl well as a unit in a pretty difficult situation, they were coming out there to give it everything. It’s on to Auckland now and hopefully we can make it some more good memories,” Boult said.
“We knew they (West Indies) have had their troubles but we knew they would be competitive. They’ve virtually got 11 match-winners in their team,” Boult said, overlooking New Zealand’s thumping victory with more than 19 overs to spare.
“Now we can focus on the South Africans and they’re going to be as equal a challenge if not better.
“We will scout them and prepare for that game like we have for every other one, and set the game plan down and give it our best on Tuesday.”
Along with Guptill’s exceptional innings - the second highest score ever in an ODI and the highest at any World Cup - Boult listed his highlight as Daniel Vettori’s leaping catch on the boundary to dismiss Marlon Samuels.
Samuels was in full flight with 27 off 16 deliveries when he attempted to pull Boult over the boundary only to see the 36-year-old Vettori leap into the air and take a remarkable one-handed catch.
“I couldn’t believe it. Leaping up a couple of metres in the air and sticking out his paw.
“I actually enjoyed the celebration afterwards which was a bit of strut. The best sight was seeing everyone sprint towards him it was something pretty cool,” added the leading wicket-taker at the World Cup with 19 wickets.
