ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Expected A Bit More From Martin Guptill In Final: Brendon McCullum
Published - 16 Nov 2021, 04:28 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:01 AM
Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum expected Martin Guptill to accelerate in his innings against Australia in the T20 World Cup final.
On Sunday, New Zealand lost to Australia by eight wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Guptill started the New Zealand innings with a brisk shot off Mitchell Starc’s second bowl of the match that went through the point for a four.
The New Zealand opener looked in great touch but slowed down as the innings went ahead. Guptill scored 28 from 35 balls before he was caught by Marcus Stoinis at deep mid-wicket while attempting to attack Adam Zampa in the 12th over.
Martin Guptill’s innings was a glaringly obvious part of our batting: Brendon McCullum
Skipper Kane Williamson’s quintessential 85 runs helped the Black Caps to post 172/4 in the first innings.
McCullum said he expected a bit more effort from his former opening partner in the final game against their trans-Tasman rivals.
“I just expected a bit more from Martin Guptill, he got 28 off 35 balls in the final and that in isolation doesn’t look great. But then when you strip it down, he was 16 off 15 to get under way in the final, and then his next 20 balls he scored 12 runs, that’s the time where you need to be accelerating, and all it did [was] take the air out of us. That was the most glaringly obvious part of our batting,” McCullum told SENZ Breakfast.
New Zealand were a little bit timid: Brendon McCullum on the final match
Australian pair of David Warner (53) and Mitchell Marsh (77*) didn’t allow the New Zealand bowlers any chance to fight back in the game after their 92-run stand.
However, New Zealand bowling spearhead Trent Boult got the wickets of openers Aaron Finch and Warner, but that looked very less in what was much needed to defend their total.
McCullum said that New Zealand were timid in the final game as they failed to hit the right areas in the bowling.
“I don’t want to say we took a knife to a gunfight … we took a gun, but we didn’t fire any bullets. They were a little bit timid. Just a missed opportunity, we didn’t fire the bullets we took,” the former New Zealand skipper said.
New Zealand will be playing against India in the upcoming T20I series starting on Wednesday in Jaipur.
