Cricket: Guptill fires his fifth fifty in five innings

Martin Guptill of New Zealand bats. Photo / Getty Images

Martin Guptill continued his golden summer with the bat last night in the T20 international against Zimbabwe, making his fifth consecutive half-century across all formats with 91 not out off 54 balls.

Another Aucklander, left-arm spinner Roneel Hira, put up his hand for future international consideration.

The last New Zealand batsman to have such a convincing run of 50s form was Roger Twose in 2000 in five ODIs against Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Guptill has demonstrated a great liking for Zimbabwean bowling. In his 13 innings against them, he has scored 10 50s and a 40.

On his home ground, Guptill was key to New Zealand chasing down Zimbabwe's 159 for eight with 19 balls to spare to win by seven wickets. He was ably supported by Kane Williamson (48) in a 137-run third wicket partnership.

No one in the Black Caps plays better shots straight down the wicket than Guptill. His hitting was crisp and mostly sweetly timed, as it has been for much of the summer - he hit six sixes and five fours.

He rode his luck in parts, dropped off a hook to Hamilton Masakadza at long leg only for that fielder to leap high, palming it off the rope but failing to re-gather. However, Guptill's composure shone through and eased any angst in the dressing room after New Zealand slumped to two wickets down for 16 after 2.5 overs. He can now truly be termed a senior pro.

Michael Bates, Kyle Mills and Hira shone, taking six of the eight wickets between them to keep New Zealand's record blemish-free across the series.

Zimbabwe had been written off for much of this series but last night demonstrated some of the competitive spirit that made them a force at home against New Zealand in October and November. However, they were still let down by sloppy ground fielding. Mills was blasted by the Zimbabwe batsmen on occasion as they looked to clear their hips in front of the wicket but long years of cricketing guile brought him back into the contest with slower balls that were hard to detect.

Bates conceded just 16 runs from his first three overs. He was cannoned for two consecutive sixes starting his last but responded with two dismissals to finish as the most successful wicket-taker with figures of three for 31.

Perhaps the most interesting contribution was Hira's. He made a tidy international debut bowling his brisk left arm orthodox and had no qualms pitching the ball up. Hira went for just 22 runs from his allotment. He deserved the wicket of Shingi Masakadza after flighting the ball and drifting it past the batsman swinging to leg. Success could have come earlier had Brendon McCullum not missed stumping Hamilton Masakadza on Hira's fifth ball.

Zimbabwe's batting was uninhibited as they put together their best constructed innings of the test or limited overs series on the batsman's paradise. The innings was led by 101 runs between Hamilton Masakadza (53) and Elton Chigumbura (48). The 160 total included plenty of straight hitting through the line. It was Masakadza's fourth T20 international half century.