New Zealand opener Martin Guptill became the second batter after Indian skipper Virat Kohli to complete 3,000 runs in T20I cricket. Guptill returned to his aggressive best with a 93-run knock against Scotland. In the scorching heat of Dubai, a huffing and puffing Guptill took 56 deliveries to score 93 runs.
It was a struggle for him to keep going in the latter half of the innings. Guptill was often seen struggling in the middle and eventually ran out of juice as he missed out on a deserving T20I century, getting out in the penultimate over trying to clear the long-on boundary. He mostly dealt in fours and sixes hitting six and seven of them respectively.
The Kiwi opener now has 3,069 runs from 105 matches at an average of 32.95 including two centuries and eight half-centuries. Kohli has scored 3,225 runs from 92 matches at an average of 52.01 including 29 half-centuries. He also equalled Rohit Sharma's record of most 90-plus scores (5) in T20Is
The 35-year-old also became the first batter to hit 150 sixes in the format. After the completion of innings, he took his tally to 154 sixes. The closest contender to the most sixes record is Indian opener Rohit who has 134 sixes.
Guptill missed the chance of becoming the ninth centurion in T20 World Cup over the years and second New Zealander to achieve the feat after Brendon McCullum.
However, his knock helped New Zealand recover from three early wickets and post a total of 172/5 against Kyle Coetzer-led side.
