#WT20 Top player of the day: Martin Guptill

Chennai

New Zealand team is on top of the table in Group 2 of the ICC World T20. It seems to have adapted well to the Indian conditions.

Martin Guptill showed us today, why he is 'the' person to watch out in this World Cup. His blistering 80 from 48 balls put the New Zealand on the driving seat. They didn’t lose any wickets in the power play which allowed them to dominate and put pressure on Pakistan right from the start.

But at the end, he was bowled out by an excellent ball from Mohammed Sami. New Zealand posted a target of 180 for 5 in their 20 overs.

Guptill said, "A bit of tightness in the hamstring (reason for being off the field). We found early that the wicket was good than what we have been playing on. Wanted to be aggressive and it paid off for us. Got to keep playing the same way, we got enough power in our batting line-up to keep going. The new ball came on a bit more, hopefully we can keep it going."

And when the Pakistani’s came to bat they were on fire. In spite of a fiery start from Sharjeel, Pakistan's innings ended in a disastrous whimper.

New Zealand’s bowler didn’t perform that well with the ball. There were a lot of loose deliveries which gave Pakistan a ray of hope to win. New Zealand was very good in the field and field placements and they stuck to their basics.
 
Brief Score: New Zealand 180/5 in 20 overs (MJ Guptill 80, Ross Taylor 37 and Mohammed Sami 2/23) beat Pakistan 158/5 in 20 overs (Sharjeel Khan 47, Ahmed Shehzad 30 and MJ Santner 2/29)