World Cup 2019: Guptill happy for New Zealand to build early momentum

New Zealand routed Sri Lanka in its World Cup opener on Saturday with Martin Guptill starring with 73 not out.

Guptill was pleased to have helped the team win its opener given what is to come.

Martin Guptill hailed the New Zealand bowlers as the Black Caps made a blistering start to the World Cup with a 10-wicket thrashing of Sri Lanka.

Kane Williamson's side bundled out Sri Lanka for just 136 in Cardiff before Guptill (73 not out) and Colin Munro (58no) rattled off the required runs inside 17 overs.

New Zealand faces Bangladesh next and then Afghanistan before a tricky end to the group stage that sees it take on India, South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and host England.

And Guptill was pleased to have helped the team win its opener given what is to come.

SL vs NZ: Match highlights

Asked about the importance of the first week of the tournament, he told a post-match news conference: "I guess you want to build that momentum early, and today we did that.

"Our bowlers put the ball in the right areas and made it difficult for Sri Lanka to really get a big start on.

"If we bowl first in the next few games we can hopefully continue to do that and make it difficult for the guys to score. Then if we can come out and play with a bit of freedom like we did this afternoon with the bat, I think we'll have a pretty successful tournament."

 

Not only did New Zealand win well and set down a marker, but it also made a strong start with its net run rate - two key elements behind the Black Caps' positivity with the bat.

"I mean, it's always nice to have a healthy run rate at the start of a tournament," added Guptill.

"Once we had them seven, eight down it was try and knock them over as quick as possible and then knock the runs off as quick as possible as well. "We've got a healthy run rate at the moment, so hopefully we can take it through the rest of the tournament."

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne felt losing the toss had played an important part in his side's demise on a green track and Guptill agreed bowling first improved New Zealand's chances.

"I think it worked in our favour a wee bit," he said.

"Even if we had been put in this morning, though, I think we still would've played with the positive intent that we did.

"It may not have come off, but we still would've gone out there and tried to play as positively as possible."