McCullum all praise for team

 New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said his side had showed how “good a team we can be” after wrapping up a one-day series win over England.

Martin Guptill’s New Zealand record 189 not out — the opener’s second successive unbeaten hundred — was the cornerstone of the Black Caps’ total of 359 for three that was behind an 86-run win at Southampton on Sunday.
 
That gave them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in a three-match series ahead of Wednesday’s clash at Trent Bridge and followed a five-wicket win at Lord’s on Friday where Guptill scored an unbeaten 103.

This latest victory was just the tonic New Zealand needed after being whitewashed 2-0 by England in the preceding Test series and left them full of confidence heading into the one-day Champions Trophy tournament in the UK that starts on Thursday.

“It’s very, very special for the guys involved in the team — and something we will savour,” said McCullum, who rediscovered his batting form with an unbeaten 40 in an undefeated fourth wicket stand off 118 in just 50 balls with Guptill.

“The boys are delighted to come over here and play against a team as good as England, in their own conditions, and have wrapped the series up after two games,” added McCullum, whose side lost the corresponding one-day series in New Zealand earlier this year 2-1 after going 1-0 up against Alastair Cook’s men.

“We’ve done it in a fashion that shows how good a team we can be,’’ he added.
Brendon McCullum

The 26-year-old Guptill’s latest innings saw him surpass Lou Vincent’s previous New Zealand record of 172 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2005, and was the equal fifth highest score in ODI history.

It also equalled West Indies great Vivian Richards’ 189 not out, at Old Trafford in 1984, as the highest individual ODI score against England.

“The batsmanship was outstanding to see,” McCullum said of Guptill’s 155-ball knock, which featured two sixes and 19 fours.

“We all know his striking ability, and when you couple those two aspects together I’d probably say it’s as good an innings as we’ve seen in one-day cricket from New Zealand,’’ the skipper added.