Was lucky to get a direct hit: Guptill on Dhoni run out

TIL Desk Sports/ It was a game-changing moment of brilliance but New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill says his direct hit to have M S Dhoni run out in the World Cup semi-final against India was more a case of luck doing its bit for him.

With that run out in the 49th over, India’s hopes ended in the tense semi-final at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The former champions went down by 18 runs against the last edition’s finalists. “I did not think the ball was actually coming to me, I tried to get there as soon as I could.

Once I got hold of the ball, I thought it was actually quite straight. Lucky enough to get a direct hit from out there, lucky for us he was out of his ground,” Guptill said in a short video uploaded by the ICC on social media.

Guptil had endured a below-par World Cup with the bat before this run-out redeemed him to an extent. It was that moment of brilliance which tilted the game completely in New Zealand’s favour with Dhoni getting out on 50 off 72 balls.