West Indies swept aside by record breaking innings from NZ's Martin Guptill
"So in a competition that has offered much to enjoy in the past five weeks, the four indisputably best teams will contest the semi-finals. Clearly South Africa will have the better training period heading in to the game, and, frankly, the two days grace that New Zealand are allowed now, one of them a travel day, between two matches of such high intensity, is unfair. But Brendon McCullum's side are riding a crest and the support at Eden Park promises to get the adrenaline pumping through even the most weary of bodies. It promises to be quite a spectacle. The innings played by Guptill was remarkable not just for the runs he made but the manner in which they came. When it comes to batsmanship, this, we are constantly being told, is the age of invention: of flicks and flamingos, ramps and reverses, switch-hits and sixes, IPLs and Big Bashes. Except nobody appears to have told him, for if this, ultimately, was a display of power-hitting delivered by a tall fellow with long levers and a penchant for the front foot, then it was the orthodoxy of it all that caught the eye, utterly without recourse to frills or frippery: no dancing down the pitch, or moving around the crease."
Mike Selvey, The Guardian
Martin Guptill hits World Cup record 237 to help New Zealand beat West Indies
"It has to be a prime candidate for the most expensive mistake in a cricket World Cup, or even in the whole history of white-ball cricket, as it paved the way for New Zealand to reach the semi-finals, for the seventh time in 11 tournaments. Martin Guptill, New Zealand's tall 28 year-old opening batsman, had scored four runs against West Indies when he clipped a catch to square-leg, where Marlon Samuels dropped it. Three hours later Guptill had scored 237 - the highest innings ever in World Cups - and he was still not out."
Scyld Berry, The Telegraph
New Zealand ready to dream after Guptill knock
"Throughout the World Cup, a television advertisement has featured Brendon McCullum telling his country to 'dream big, New Zealand'. As the crowds streamed towards the stadium known as the Cake Tin on a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon, it seemed like the message of the Black Caps captain was getting through. By the time they drifted away into the Wellington night, having seen the Martin Guptill-inspired Kiwis destroy West Indies to earn a place in the semi-finals, the dream was fast becoming a reality."
Stephan Shemilt, BBC Sport
