Martin Guptill smashes 160 in Legends 90 League match

Martin Guptill has proved that he’s still a force to be reckoned with after belting 160 runs off 49 balls in the Legends 90 League despite retiring from the international game.

Guptill was back to his best for the Chhattisgarh Warriors in Raipur against the Big Boys Unikari, smashing 16 sixes and 12 fours with a 326 strike rate.

Opening with Rishi Dhawan, who scored 76 from 42, the pair returned to the dressing room not out for a first-wicket stand of 240 from 15 overs. It was the highest partnership in the competition and was the first time 200 runs had been reached in an innings.

The Big Boys weren’t up to the formidable task, losing the match 89 runs short after being restricted to 151/4. Their chase got off to a rough start after opener Jatin Saxena was dismissed after just five deliveries.

Robin Bist was the best of the Big Boys’ batsmen, scoring 55 not out from 33, and Saurabh Tiwary contributed a solid 37, but the side was never able to take control.

Legends League 90 is a 15-over per innings format featuring current and retired cricket players.

Earlier this year, Guptill announced his retirement from international cricket more than two years after his last appearance for the Black Caps.

He last wore the black cap in October 2022, before selectors opted to move in a new direction. Guptill decided to hand back his national contract and become a freelance T20 specialist in domestic tournaments worldwide.

Guptill appeared for New Zealand 367 times across all three formats, with 198 One Day Internationals, 122 T20 Internationals, and 47 tests.

In 2009, he became the first Black Cap to score a century on ODI debut, when he made an unbeaten 122 against the West Indies at Eden Park.

In 2015, he made the first score of more than 200 in an ODI for New Zealand, with an unbeaten World Cup quarter-final 237 runs, also against the West Indies.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission