Job's Not Over Yet, Says Martin Guptill After Record Breaking World Cup Ton

New Zealand's Martin Guptill hit the highest ever World Cup score of 237 not out against the West Indies in the quarter-finals on Saturday, the second highest ODI individual total of all time. (Match Report)

The 28-year-old opener's total surpassed the previous World Cup best of 215 made by the West Indies' Chris Gayle against Zimbabwe at Canberra last month. (Guptill Strikes it Big)

Guptill, dropped on four by Marlon Samuels, faced 163 balls as he hit 24 fours and 11 sixes, one of them a 110-metre rocket that landed on the roof of Wellington's Westpac Stadium.

His innings was also the second-highest individual score in the 3,643 match history of one-day internationals, behind Rohit Sharma's 264 for India against Sri Lanka at Kolkata last year. (Fantastic Four of Cricket World Cup)

It is all the more remarkable because Guptill's left foot was maimed in a forklift accident when he was a teenager, resulting in the loss of three toes and almost ending his career before it had begun.

"It's a pretty cool feeling to be fair, but the job's only half done," Guptill said after his stunning innings helped New Zealand to 393 for six after they won the toss and elected to bat.

The Aucklander, who scored a century in New Zealand's previous match against Bangladesh, said he had to ignore the pressure of playing a knockout match in front of his home fans.

"Obviously there is pressure when you walk in to bat but you've just got to try to put it out of your mind and watch the ball as well as you can,

"That's what I tried to do today, I'm just lucky it paid off."

It was just the sixth double century in an ODI, as Guptill became the fifth batsman to reach the landmark -- Sharma has two one-day international double centuries to his credit.

After he reached his hundred Chris Gayle, another double centurion in this World Cup walked up and congratulated him.

"Gayle came up to me and said congratulations, welcome to the league. That was quite funny", said the right-handed Kiwi.

Guptill's innings also saw him break his own record for the highest ODI score by a New Zealander, which had stood at 189 not out and was set against England at Southampton in 2013.

- Amputation setback -

Guptill said he was thrilled to bat through the entire innings, saying he felt comfortable on the drop-in wicket once he got his eye in.

"It's quite tough to start on, but once you get yourself in and get used to it the runs can come easy," he said.

Guptill's nickname among his teammates is "Two Toes" because of the accident that occurred when he was a 13-year-old working on his father Peter's property.

Already a promising cricketer, he lost three toes when the forklift ran over his foot and feared he would never play again.

Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming visited him in hospital to lift his spirits and Peter Guptill said the accident had shaped his son's attitude towards cricket.

"(It) probably made him more determined... he realised in a flash that everything could be lost and he's making the most of it," Peter told TV3 in 2013.

Guptill's Black Caps are vying with the West Indies for a semi-final spot against South Africa in Auckland on Tuesday, with the final scheduled for March 29 in Melbourne.

Highest individual one-day international scores (score, player, team, opposition, venue, year):

264 Rohit Sharma IND v SRI Kolkata 2014

237 no Martin Guptill NZL v WIS Wellington 2015

219 Virender Sehwag IND v WIS Indore 2011

215 Chris Gayle WIS v ZIM Canberra 2015

209 Rohit Sharma IND v AUS Bangalore 2013

200 no Sachin Tendulkar IND v RSA Gwalior 2010