Wellington, March 21 (IANS) New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill on Saturday said he was amused at West Indies opener Chris Gayle's 'welcome to the 200 league' gesture after cracking a whirlwind knock of 237 runs in a cricket World Cup quarter-final here.
Guptill clobbered his way to an unbeaten 237 from 163 balls to record the highest individual score in World Cup history. The right-hander helped New Zealand beat the West Indies by 143 runs on Saturday.
Gayle belted 215 a few days back against Zimbabwe in a group stage encounter to set the highest individual score in a World Cup by a batsman, also becoming the first willower to hit a double hundred in the quadrennial event.
Guptill bettered Gayle's record with his superb knock.
"Chris Gayle came up to me and said congratulations, welcome to the league. That was quite funny. But everyone was pretty congratulatory and just right behind him," Guptill said of the opposition team at the post-match media conference.
Guptill said he was not under any pressure to play big shots and backed himself to play a long innings.
"From the start I just wanted to play each ball as it came. Once it got down to the last ten overs it was just to have a bit of fun and try to hit a few boundaries.
"There were a couple of good partnerships in the last ten overs which got us up to nearly 400," he said.
He attributed his success to the tips given to him by the legendary Martin Crowe.
"(It was) Mainly footwork stuff and lining up the balls a bit better than I had been, trying to get the ball back a lot straighter instead of trying to play too square too early. That's been the main things. I think it's working pretty well at the moment."
New Zealand will take on South Africa in the semi-final on Tuesday at the Eden Park, Auckland.
The 28-year-old said the stature of the match won't affect their preparation and they are determined to negate any pressure whatsoever.
"Yeah, well, we'll travel tomorrow and get up there and prepare for it like we have any other game in this tournament. We've got a lot of scouting to do of a quality South African side, and we'll get a training in and then we're into it.
"It's going to be all go, but a lot of the guys are very excited at the opportunity. So, can't wait," he said.
Russian Oil: Whose are these mysterious ships carrying Russian oil around the world? looking for owner
Crude oil from Russia is still reaching buyers around the world. But how this oil is reaching different parts of the world remains a mystery. Agencies monitoring the Russian oil business are unable to
IND vs AUS: Australian captain Tim Paine told why David Warner is very important for the team
Australian captain Tim Paine said in Sydney on Wednesday that the mere presence of David Warner makes his team better and fills other players with enthusiasm and energy. Warner did not play in the
RG Kar case: Mamata government reaches High Court against the decision of Sealdah court, gets permission to file appeal
The West Bengal government on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Calcutta High Court requesting the death penalty for Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and killing a female doctor at RG Kar Hospital. Chief
These smartphones of Redmi Motorola Samsung Realme come with 108 megapixel camera, know what is the price and features
If you are planning to get a new great camera smartphone, then here we are telling you about the Motorola Realme Redmi Samsung smartphone. Here we are giving you information about their price and
PM Modi In Mahakumbh: PM Modi took a holy dip in Sangam, CM Yogi was also present with him.
On the eighth day of Maha Kumbh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a holy dip in the holy Sangam. After bathing, meditation, and Puja Aarti in Sangam, the Prime Minister left the fair area in a
MI vs SRH match today: Rashid's challenge against Rohit, who has been out 17 times in IPL against wrist spinners; Challenge for Warner to select the right playing-11
The match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be played today in the 9th match of the IPL 2021 season. The match will start at 7:30 pm at Chepak Stadium, Chennai. On the
NCB again under question: In 1 year, the file of 5 drugs case was opened for investigation, in which one person was a witness in every case
Aryan Khan was today released from Arthur Road Jail in the cruise drugs case. In this entire case, questions continued to be raised on the action of NCB. NCP leader Nawab Malik accused NCB zonal head
Muhammad Yunus: 'Northeast is an integral part of India', former ambassador reprimands Muhammad Yunus for his absurd statement
Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri has slammed Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus. She strongly condemned Yunus' statement in which he made the absurd claim that Bangladesh
Bakrid Qurbani: Controversy begins over the sacrifice of goats on Bakrid, BJP leader gives this advice to Muslims
Controversy has started over the sacrifice of goats on Bakrid. Hindu religious organizations are opposing the sacrifice of goats or any other animal on Bakrid, while the leaders of the Muslim
DC vs RCB: Based on the stormy innings of Kaap-Jess, Delhi scored a four, and RCB got its fifth consecutive defeat
RCB vs DC, WPL 2023. In the match played at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on 13 March, Delhi Capitals defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 wickets. In this match, the Delhi team won the toss
