‘We will celebrate Gup's success, the team's success and then turn our attention to the semi-final’
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.
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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."
Check out how Guptill surpassed Gayle to hit highest World Cup score
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.
"The boys will have a few drinks tonight and I'll probably hear all about it. In the last 10 overs it was swing from the hip and I was lucky to get a few out of the middle," he said.
"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.
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