No one was more frustrated with the relentless rain at Eden Park yesterday than Martin Guptill.
The BLACKCAPS opener, who struck a patient and powerful 66 from 78 balls, was on his way back to his best when the third match of the ANZ ODI Series against Sri Lanka was abandoned.
The 28-year-old Aucklander, who famously made a century on debut at Eden Park, continued his dream run on his home ground as the BLACKCAPS were left hanging on 145/3 after 28.5 rain interrupted overs.
“I always enjoy playing here at Eden Park and playing in front of my home crowd,” he said afterwards. “It was nice to spend a bit of time out there and get a few out of the middle.”
Guptill's average of 76.16 in nine innings at the venue is more than double his career average of 37.86 in 90 innings.
“I just like to score runs here I guess. It's generally a good batting wicket and everyone loves to play here with the short boundaries and a good surface.”
He achieved a special milestone yesterday when he brought up 3000 ODI runs, becoming the fastest New Zealander to complete the feat - he feels like he's on the cusp of a big innings.
“My feet have been moving pretty well this year and I've been feeling in great nick, so it was nice to spend some time out in the middle.”
Guptill has been working with former BLACKCAPS skipper Martin Crowe, one of the heroes of the 1992 World Cup, to get back to his ball-striking best.
“He has some world-class ideas and he was a world-class player. It's always nice to be able to bounce a few ideas off him and get his thoughts on things.”
Guptill also enjoys opening with skipper Brendon McCullum – who blazed 28 off 22 balls yesterday – and said watching his shot making from the other end is the best seat in the house.
“Brendon plays the way he does and when it comes off it is pretty spectacular to watch from out in the middle. It allows me to just go out and play. We have got off to a couple of good starts so far so hopefully we can keep that going.”
Guptill would have loved to keep batting yesterday, but he believed the innings was an all-important confidence boost ahead of ICC World Cup 2015 which begins on February 14 in Christchurch.
“I have a bit of a foundation there, so hopefully I can push past that and get a couple of hundreds before the World Cup starts and then we are in pretty good stead for the rest of the tournament.”
The BLACKCAPS face Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI of the ANZ ODI Series in Nelson on Tuesday with the series tied 1-all.
