Martin Guptill blasted the second-highest ODI score of all time, an unbeaten 237, as New Zealand amassed  393-6 and put themselves on course for a semi-final meeting with South Africa.

He was 27 shy of Rohit Sharma’s record of 264. It was the second double-century of this World Cup; following the West Indies’ Chris Gayle.

The West Indies may rue their sloppiness, for they put him down in the first over of the game, when he flicked Jerome Taylor to Marlon Samuels at square leg.

His first half-century came off 64 balls and his hundred from 111, off  just 42 deliveries. In the 50th over he even launched a six onto the roof, only the second batsman to have done that after Craig McMillan.

Guptill brought up his 200 with a powerful crunch down the ground for four off Andre Russell from his 152nd delivery.

His 163-ball innings featured 24 fours and 11 sixes, and he alone scored 92 of New Zealand’s 153 in the final 10 overs. The highest score by a New Zealander in a World Cup game had been Glenn Turner’s 171 not out against East Africa in 1975. It was also Guptill’s second consecutive hundred of this World Cup, after his 105 against Bangladesh in Hamilton.

What Guptil also showed, is that New Zealand do not have to rely on Brendon McCullum for the big blows. He scored just 12. And Guptill was not short of partners, for everyone chipped in when they got a chance.

He put on 62 with Kane Williamson (33) for the second wicket and then 143 with Ross Taylor for the third wicket. Taylor scored only 42 of those runs.

Elliott’s 27 off 11 balls was the cherry on the top: their 50 partnership came off 15 legal deliveries