McCullum and Guptill
The BLACKCAPS batmen talk at the end of day two after their record breaking partnership of 339.
Brendon McCullum
On his satisfaction about today’s performance…
“Yes, there was obviously a lot of satisfaction. For the last while I’ve sort of got a lot of scores towards 100 but haven’t quite got across the line. So to bat in partnership with Guptill today and recover from the situation we were in and to kick on both of us to get a big score and to go past Ian Smith. He spoke to me at the start of the day and he put a bottle of wine on that so it was nice to go past that, and a pretty pleasing day.”
On his commitment in the crease…
“Today and last night I found a good tempo which hopefully I can try and replicate in games coming up. So I think if I can bat at that tempo its gives me the best opportunity and it’s not always easy. I think Guptill as well, we were both talking about it out there, that it’s not probably the way we normally play but I guess that was what was required. Once we got past the initial onslaught from their bowlers it showed that the tempo we were batting at was the right one and we were fortunate enough to be able to continue in that vein for the majority of the innings.”
On similar playing styles – Guptill and McCullum…
“We both bat at the top of the order in One-Day matches but obviously a change of tact from the One-Day game to Test Cricket. We are very similar players I think, Guptill probably hits a bit straighter than I do but in terms of running between the wickets I think it’s a big part of our games is to be able to put some pressure on the opposition, not just through stroke play, but through the intent with our running.”
On a record partnership and milestone for New Zealand…
“Once we got underway and once we had a significant partnership underway you always know that those sorts of things aren’t that far away. But we weren’t conscious of what the records were that we were nearing, but I guess it was just nice to be able to put together such a substantial partnership.”
Martin Guptill
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On his satisfaction about today’s performance…
“Its right up there, getting your first Test 100 is always a great feeling and batting out there with Brendon. And from the position that we were in it was just fantastic.”
On tiring towards the end…
“I was getting a bit tired out there, but Im always working on my fitness so I can bat for these periods of time and hopefully I can do it again some time soon.”
Brendon McCullum
On the initial goal once they were batting…
“We just tried to get a partnership going, trying to resist a bit of the momentum that Bangladesh picked up with the wickets that they had later on yesterday afternoon. If we could get a partnership together then that was what we were trying to work on. Get ourselves in, get something going together, and if we could do that then hopefully we would find scoring a bit easier later on. I don’t think it was that easy later on”
Martin Guptill
On batting number five…
“Mark Greatbatch first told me I was going to be at number five, and I was happy to still be in the side after a bit of a lack-lustre start to my career I guess, but to get that first 100 is fantastic.
Hopefully I have cemented my place for a while now and just keep the good performances going.”
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Martin Guptill talks exclusively to BLACKCAPS TV »
