At the Eden Park in Auckland, it rained boundaries and there was simply no stopping New Zealand opener Martin Guptill as he became the leading run-scorer in T20 Internationals with his second ton against Australia in Auckland.
In the fifth T20I of the Tri-Nation series which includes England, Guptill scored 105 runs in 54 balls, his second T20I ton which comprises of nine sixes and six fours and he didn't hesitate to step up to the Australian bowlers and give them a run a for their money. The Black Cap's opener recorded the fastest T20I hundred scored by any New Zealand batsman in 49 balls, overtaking Brendon McCullum's ton in 50 balls.
Not only did Guptill break McCullum's record of being the fastest, he also zoomed past his record of scoring the most runs in the shortest format of the game.
In 71 T20Is, the former Black Cap's skipper scored 2,140 runs consisting of two tons and 13 half centuries whereas Guptill joined the exclusive list of batsman with two tons in the shortest format of the game has he has now smashed 2,188 runs in 73 matches with two centuries and 13 fifties. The highest is Indian skipper Virat Kohli with 1,956 runs in 55 matches with 18 fifties.
The former captain sent out a congratulatory message for the opener.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia.
Australia, which has already qualified for the series final after winning its first three games, named an unchanged lineup. New Zealand named seamer Ben Wheeler in place of spinner Mitchell Santner, who has a knee injury.
New Zealand has one win from two games after beating England by 12 runs on Tuesday. England and New Zealand meet again in Hamilton on Sunday.
Guptill's second T20I ton pushed New Zealand to a daunting total of 243/6.
