Martin Guptill became the quickest New Zealand batsman to breach the 6,000-run mark in ODI cricket, after the right-handed batsman scored a century in the first match against Sri Lanka at Mount Maunganui, on January 03. The 32-year-old also surpassed Brendon McCullum’s career runs’ tally, and is now fourth on the list of most ODI runs for New Zealand.

Guptill scored his 14th ODI century in the process when the Kiwi batsman hit 138 runs off 139 balls. The flamboyant opener hit 11 fours, and 5 sixes in his innings, which helped the Black Caps put 371 runs on the scoreboard. Jimmy Neesham Almost Broke This Record, Slams 5 Sixes off Thisara Perera in One Over During NZ vs SL 1st ODI 2019; Watch Video.

Guptill took only 157 innings to reach the landmark figure and became the fastest Kiwi batsman and eighth overall. With this innings, Guptill went past a slew of cricketers in achieving 6,000 ODI runs. By crossing the mark in 6,000 runs in his 157th inning, Guptill outpaced Graeme Smith (160 innings), Saeed Anwar (162 innings), Rohit Sharma (162 innings), Ricky Ponting (166 innings), and MS Dhoni (166 innings) among other star cricketers.

The right-hand opening batsman has now scored 6,114 runs in ODI cricket, which is also the fourth-highest in New Zealand cricket history, after Stephen Fleming, Ross Taylor, and Nathan Astle.

ODI Cricket Records: List of Most Runs by New Zealand Cricketers

Sr. No. Players Matches Innings Runs Highest Avg. 100s 50s
1. Stephen Fleming 279 268 8,007 134* 32.41 8 49
2. Ross Taylor 208 193 7,487 181* 47.08 19 44
3. Nathan Astle 223 217 7,090 145* 34.92 16 41
4. Martin Guptill 160 157 6,114 237* 43.67 14 34
5. Brendon McCullum 260 228 6,083 166 30.41 5 32

(The following table was updated after NZ vs SL ODI on January 3, 2019)

Riding high on Martin Guptill’s century New Zealand scored 371/7 in their first innings, after Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first. In their reply, Sri Lanka fought valiantly but failed to scale the target, and lost the match by 45 runs eventually.  Check Match Scorecard of NZ vs SL 1st ODI Here.

With the win, New Zealand has gone 1-0 up in the 3-match ODI series. Stay tuned with us for all the latest updates about New Zealand vs Sri Lanka ODI 2019 Series.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 03, 2019 04:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).