Martin Guptill will be appearing in his second successive ICC World Cup final when New Zealand take on England at Lord’s tomorrow.
Worcestershire Rapids 2019 Vitality Blast signing will link up with the County after the 50 over showdown with the host nation.
Guptill was part of the Black Caps side beaten in the 2015 World Cup final by Australia in Melbourne and was one of the stars of the tournament.
Now he will be looking to go one better before joining up with the Rapids for potentially 11 of the 14 group games plus the knockout stages of the Blast.
Guptill has produced some outstanding moments in the field during the World Cup including his catch to dismiss Australia’s Steve Smith and run out of MS Dhoni in the semi-final win over India.
He won the man of the match for his 73 not out against Sri Lanka but is looking to put some challenging form with the bat behind him heading in the final.
The 32-year-old said: “I have always put in a lot of time in. For it not to be working out in the middle, it’s frustrating.
“The last couple of nets I’ve probably felt the best I have since I’ve been here.
“I’m just trying to carry on with what I’ve been doing, work hard in the nets and hopefully in the next game it all comes together.”
As regards the Dhoni run-out, Guptill said: “I let the handbrake off and tried to get there as quick as possible, clean pick up and when the ball was halfway to the stumps I thought ‘it’s not missing.’
“Direct hits are always close so we knew we were in with a shot. Luckily for us it was a matter of inches.”
All-rounder Moeen Ali is waiting to see if he will earn a recall to the England side for the final.
The Rapids official Vitality Blast captain, 32, has appeared in five group matches against South Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.
But in recent matches Liam Plunkett has come into the side with England going into games with one spinner in Adil Rashid.
