New Zealand opener creates history and is immediately praised by the cricket legend whose record he broke
Guptill sets new benchmark for T20s
Martin Guptill has taken two T20 international records off his former skipper Brendon McCullum in the one night as he hammered a memorable century against Australia at Eden Park.
SCORECARD: New Zealand v Australia
Guptill overtook McCullum to become the highest run-scorer in the history of T20 internationals as he brought up his century from just 49 balls, beating McCullum's Kiwi record of 50 deliveries as the fastest by a New Zealander.
South Africa's David Miller holds the all-time record for the fastest T20 century off 35 balls.
Guptill surpassed McCullum's career mark of 2,140 runs when he moved to 58 in his knock, having earlier brought up his half-century from just 30 deliveries.
The right-hander and Colin Munro blazed 132 in a thrilling opening stand that featured 11 fours and 10 sixes after the Black Caps elected to bat first.
Munro departed for 76 from just 33 balls but Guptill continued the assault and brought up his hundred with his ninth six.
He was eventually dismissed for 105 from 54 balls, his innings including six fours and nine sixes.
It was the 15th score of 50 or more in T20 internationals for Guptill, but he reached McCullum's mark in one less innings than his former opening partner.
McCullum was quick to praise Guptill for his achievement.
Brilliant and well deserved from @Martyguptill !! Top of the T20 runs leaderboard and a whole lot more to add over the coming years! Keep swinging @BLACKCAPS !!
— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) February 16, 2018
Despite averaging less than 30 from 47 Tests, Guptill is a superstar of the white-ball game and has enjoyed recent success against the Australians.
Having scored just one half-century from his first 31 innings against the Aussies, he now has five scores of 50 or more in 15 innings in the past two years.
Top run-scorers in T20 Internationals
Martin Guptill (NZ) - 2,188 from 71 inns
Brendon McCullum (NZ) - 2,140 from 70 inns
Virat Kohli (Ind) - 1,956 from 51 inns
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) - 1,889 from 79 inns
Shoaib Malik (Pak) - 1,821 from 86 inns
Mohammad Shahzad (Afg) - 1,816 from 60 inns
David Warner (Aus) - 1,708 from 68 inns
Trans-Tasman T20 Tri-Series
First T20I Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets. Scorecard
Second T20I Australia beat England by five wickets. Scorecard
Third T20I Australia beat England by seven wickets. Scorecard
Fourth T20I New Zealand beat England by 12 runs. Scorecard
Fifth T20I Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets. Scorecard
Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18. Scorecard
Final Australia v TBC, Eden Park, February 21. Scorecard
Australia squad: David Warner (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
England squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Ben Wheeler.