Martin Guptill reaches 6000 ODI runs Photo Credit: Twitter Martin Guptill reaches 6000 ODI runs | Courtesy: @ICC

Veteran New Zealand batsman marked his return to the ODI squad in style as he became the fifth Kiwi player to score 6000 runs in One Day International cricket and the fastest. In doing so, Guptill surpassed India's MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in terms of the number of innings to reach the milestone. It took Guptill 160 matches to reach the landmark, which he achieved at an average of 42.89, a strike rate of 86.49 and the highest score of 237.

Guptill emerged as the 8th fastest batsman overall to reach the landmark, needing 157 innings. The quickest man to the 6000-run club remains South Africa's Hashim Amla (123 innings) ahead of Indian skipper Virat Kohli (136 innings) and former West Indian batsman Viv Richards (141 innings). The other Kiwi players in the list are Ross Taylor, Stephen Flemming, Nathan Astle and Brendon McCullum

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The Indian duo of Rohit Sharma and Dhoni took 162 and 166 innings respectively, to book themselves a spot in the list. Guptill surpassed both as he took 5 innings less than Indian wicket-keeper batsman to reach 6000 runs.

Guptill opened the innings alongside Colin Munro in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at Mount Maunganui. While Munro departed early, with the Kiwis losing their first wicket at the score of 23/1. The 32-year-old then formed a brilliant 163-run partnership with skipper Kane Williamson that saw both scoring respective fifties. Guptill later went on to score his 14th ODI hundred.

Williamson wasn't on the crease as Guptill reached the 3-figure mark, as he was removed by Nuwan Pradeep for a score of 76. Having won the Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0, the Kiwis would look to produce a similar result in the limited overs format that sees them play 3 ODIs and a one-off T20I.

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The Kiwis will then face India in a limited-overs series featuring 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is.