Leading the three-match ODI series 1-0 after a resounding victory in Hamilton, New Zealand opener Martin Guptill wants his team to take the new-found momentum forward and approach the second game in Auckland this Saturday (February 8) with a positive frame of mind.
Guptill contributed nicely to the Kiwis' four-wicket win by laying a solid foundation along with fellow opener Henry Nicholls, before veteran Ross Taylor's hundred and a fine half-century from stand-in captain Tom Latham helped the team reach the 348-run target, facing the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav.
This was a much-needed victory for a team that suffered an embarrassing 5-0 T20I series whitewash against the visitors.
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"We want to be as positive as possible. Once we get out there tomorrow, we will see how we go. If being positive means you losing two wickets early, so be it. My role does not change in the team, my role is to provide the team a quick start," Guptill told reporters.
The 33-year-old said it's easier to tackle the spinners in New Zealand conditions, especially once set at the crease. "It is a completely different situation. You can be a little more attacking here as the ball is not going to spin much. We can take confidence in how we played the spinners from the first match," stressed Guptill, who has had genuine issues against spin.
"You definitely get used to him with time, he has a unique action. We played him (Bumrah) well in the first match. We negated him from taking early wickets."
Guptill wishes to regularly contribute at the top of the order and travel to India with his country's World Cup squad in 2023.
"Absolutely," he said. "Pending body issues and form and things like that, hopefully, I can stick around and put enough numbers on the board to be in that squad."
"The focus (last year) was because of the World Cup and there's a lot of T20 cricket leading into the T20 World Cup this year."
"I don't think one-day cricket is going anywhere, there's still a World Cup to play for in three years' time, and leading up to that there's going to be a lot of ODI cricket," he concluded.
(Inputs from IANS)
