Martin Guptill has been in such a purple patch this winter that I'm aurprised he's not had a visit from Prince. Or Alice Walker, for those of a more literary bent...
For Auckland and New Zealand his last sequence of innings runs like this:
65, 49*, 18, 68*, 18, 70 - all T20 for Auckland
51 (Test Match)
70, 77, 85, 91*
Aside from the fact that Zimbabwe are his country's current opposition and more demanding tasks face him against South Africa shortly, Guptill's batting has been little short of remarkable. You still need to make them, whoever is bowling at the other end and human error or relaxation can cause an early dismissal against anyone. Yet Guptill has had a wonderfully prolific winter that augurs well for his arrival in these climes for the start of the domestic season here.
Yes, as I wrote earlier in the week, he could do with turning more of those 60s, 70s and 80s into tons for both his side and the record book, but at 25 Guptill has become one of the most destructive opening batsmen in the world game. There were another six sixes today and in his present nick one has the impression that Guptill could get runs with the proverbial "stick o' rhubarb". Or at least a balsa wood bat...
It augurs well. His List A and one-day international averages now sit over 40. His next task is to get the others up there too, a benchmark of a player of the highest class.
Which he undoubtedly is.
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