I'm just going to try and do it again: Martin Guptill on his double century

Martin Guptill and Trent Boult were speaking with the media after New Zealand’s huge win over West Indies in the World Cup quarterfinal. You can also listen to the full press conference in the audio widget above. Q. Martin, first of all, congratulations. I know you’re a pretty low-key guy, but I’m hoping you can make an exception today. Can you just describe to us how did that feel out there today? And has batting for New Zealand ever felt as good for you as it did today? MARTIN GUPTILL: I’m not sure what happened today to be honest. It hasn’t sunk in yet. I was proud of what happened today. Hopefully, we can win another game and another one after that. So just pretty proud to have scored that many runs and get the win as well. Q. How did it feel to have an entire stadium chanting your name while you were batting and again at the end there? MARTIN GUPTILL: Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I’ve never had anything like that before and for it to be here in New Zealand is even better and to be in a quarterfinals is pretty special as well. Q. You held the two fingers up. Can you explain to us what that was about? MARTIN GUPTILL: That was just to Mecca. He’s at one on the roof now I was at two, so I’ve gone head of him. [caption id=“attachment_2166595” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Guptill on the way to his double century. AFP[/caption] Q. Was there any point where you felt that that was going to be something really special batting at that stage of the innings? Did something kick in? MARTIN GUPTILL: Not really. From the start I just wanted to play each ball as it came. Once it got down to the last ten overs it was just to have a bit of fun and try to hit a few boundaries. There were a couple of good partnerships in the last ten overs got us up to nearly 400. Q. Looking at how your teammates responded to it and also what the West Indians said on the field and regards to it? MARTIN GUPTILL: Yeah, Chris Gayle came up to me and said congratulations, welcome to the league. That was quite funny. But everyone was pretty congratulatory and just right behind him. Q. Can you just talk us through your day from this morning? Did you sense it could be a special day? What did you eat for breakfast? What routines did you go through? People want to know this, you know? MARTIN GUPTILL: I had a bit of a sleep in this morning, and I had some breakfast, a light breakfast, and went down early and hit on the ball machine with the coach. Then I went out and did what I did. So nothing really too special and that’s what happened. Q. Martin Crowe you’ve worked a lot with him in the last few months. When is the last time you spoke to him, and did he have any words of advice recently? MARTIN GUPTILL: Yeah, he text yesterday and said good luck. You know, try to hit the gaps and that sort of thing. It was nice to hear from him. He’s over in Sydney watching it. I haven’t had a text from him yet, but hopefully I’ll get one soon. Q. Trent, you bowled ten overs unbeaten. Ten over is a very low pace. How do you feel about that spell? Is that one of the best you’ve ever bowled in One Days? TRENT BOULT: I don’t know, really. Yeah, it was just one of those things that I had to get through the ten overs. Yeah, we felt if we could get the 5 down and get a big wicket to Gayle, that could really set us up. But Milne managed to do that, and yeah, I had a pretty good bowling performance from the unit, so, yeah, elated to get the job done. Q. Just a couple days off now until you enter that big semifinals. Martin, you got put in the second slip there for a bit of a risk. How do you approach the next couple days going forward to that semifinal in South Africa? MARTIN GUPTILL: Yeah, well, we’ll travel tomorrow and get up there and prepare for it like we have any other game in this tournament. We’ve got a lot of scouting to do of a quality South African side, and we’ll get a training in and then we’re into it. It’s going to be all go, but a lot of the guys are very excited at the opportunity. So, no, can’t wait. Q. Trent, can I ask you, what was going through your head when you saw Vettori take that catch? TRENT BOULT: I couldn’t believe it. For him to leap up a couple meters in the air and stick out his paw, I actually enjoyed the celebration afterwards, it was just a little strut. The best site was seeing him just sprint towards him and grab him. It was very cool. Q. Martin, how superstitious are you? Are you going to take anything from today for future innings? MARTIN GUPTILL: Not really that superstitious. Just try and keep doing what I’ve been doing and just take each ball as it comes really. That’s how batting is. Keep it simple, watch the ball and try to hit it. Q. Martin, a lot has been made of the action since you were a teenager and you probably don’t think about it too much now. But would the 14-year-old you believe something like today was possible? MARTIN GUPTILL: Probably not. Back then I didn’t think I’d ever play for New Zealand. Lucky enough to have had the opportunity to represent my country and I’m loving it at the moment. Q. Trent on that catch again, did you know it was possible that Dan could jump that high? TRENT BOULT: Yeah, I always thought he had it in him. He’s very fit. What is he? 45? Like I said, it was pretty amazing. It was a massive part in there to get Marlon out and get on a bit of a run. That was pretty awesome. Q. Could you tell us how hard it is to bowl 10 overs under that intensity, and whether you’d have to train or condition yourself to be able to achieve something like that? Because it is an important part of Brendon’s attacking plan to be able to bowl at that intensity for that long. MARTIN GUPTILL: Yeah, it’s just one of those things. You’ve got to want to do it firstly, and that’s what the team needed really. So like I said, it was probably our best shot of trying to get Gayle and disrupt their partnership. Yeah, managed to he get through it fine. It’s one of those things that’s needed for the team, and I’m always happy to do it. Q. When you got that out in Southampton, considering you ran out of time there, did you think you’d never sort of get that far again? Has the last eight months been like that was my best chance to get 200 and now today? MARTIN GUPTILL: Obviously, looking back I did muck around a wee bit in the middle overs of those innings, but I wouldn’t take it back at all. To set the record and break it today is pretty amazing. But I’m just going to try to do it again, I guess. Q. What are the things that you worked on with Martin Crowe, and especially in your game if you could describe what exactly did you work on? MARTIN GUPTILL: Mainly foot work stuff and lining up the bowls a bit better than I had been. Trying to get the ball back a lot straighter instead of trying to play too Square too early. That’s been the main things. I think it’s working pretty well at the moment. Q. Martin, you did look very composed when you brought up the 200. Were there any nerves at all when you were sitting there at 199? MARTIN GUPTILL: Not too bad. You’ve just got to watch the ball every bowl and that’s what I tried to do. I tried to get a half ball and hit it down on the ground for a boundary. I was just pretty stoked at the time. Q. Trent, the West Indies have had their problems at this tournament. How big a step up for South Africa from maybe any game you’ve played of this tournament? TRENT BOULT: Yeah, I guess they’ve had their troubles, but we knew they were going to be very competitive. They’ve literally got a lot of match winners on their team, so it was really set first of all. But now we can focus on the South Africans, and they’ll be an equal challenge if not better. So like I said, we’ll scout them and prepare for that game as we have for any other one. Yeah, sit their game plan down and give it our best come Tuesday, yeah. Q. Martin, I was there in Hamilton during your century (and) you kind of cramped up. Even after scoring a double hundred today, your fitness level was really high. You even sprinted for a couple of runs, so in the end of the innings. What is your fitness secret? What is the difference between Hamilton and Wellington? MARTIN GUPTILL: Wellington is just I was on my feet, and they’re both very heavy grounds, both sand outfields and it can be quite tough to stay on your feet for that long. But once I got those overs under my belt in Hamilton, I think it put me in good stead for today.