It's cold in Wellington, but the crowd stayed back to listen to McCullum speak, cheering him on at every answer. Whether it was about the crowd, whether it was about that special catch from Vettori, and howling in affirmative when McCullum was asked if this was the greatest New Zealand side ever. They have been the most joyful side to cover this World Cup. Now they enter the stage where they have stumbled so many times. Their match against South Africa - who have had their own stumbles - promises to be one for the ages. I just can't wait for it. We will see you on Tuesday with that. This is Sidharth Monga, leaving you with this beautiful statement from McCullum: "We are having the best times of our lives."
"The innings we witnessed is probably one of the best we have ever seen in this format," says Brendon McCullum. "Sublime. Just sublime. I will never forget it. Everybody here the same. The way the team is structured allows me a bit of license at the start. Some days it comes off, some days it doesn't, but that's the way it is. We need to play aggressive cricket to compete with the world's best sides, and I am sure the crowd is enjoying the way we are playing. We wanted to make a real statement on the back of Gup's inning, and that's what we did with the ball and in the field. We will celebrate Gup's success, the team's success, tonight, and then turn our attention to the semi-final. Tremendous support from the capital, lovely crowd throughout the summer, the best time of our lives and lovely that the crowd can travel with us on that journey. I am pretty sure a lot of them are booking their way to Auckland too. Oh I didn't give Dan a chance. You saw the reaction from the boys, the way the boys ran from all over the field. It's pretty hard to compare eras. Some outstanding eras, but certainly among teams I have played in, this is the best. No disrespect to the legends of the past, but I am pretty happy with the current team."
"It was tough to defend," says Jason Holder. "We were in the game until the 35th over. Guptill played brilliantly. We put him down early. A set batsman on that pitch is dangerous. Having said that we didn't bowl our yorkers well. It was a difficult challenge. We had an up-and-down World Cup. Not something I will shy away from. Of course I will like to keep the job. I don;t think I have done too badly. I have a lot confidence we can go upwards."
Meanwhile there is a growing buzz that Gayle might retire from ODIs. Apparently he is addressing a press conference
This is one of the fast-draining grounds when it comes to the crowds, but they made a lot of noise during the presentation to Guptill. Wellington's last chance to cheer a side they hope will finally bring them the World Cup
"We had a couple of good partnerships early, which set the game up," says Martin Guptill, the Man of the Match. "We were trying to take each ball as it comes and just build a partnership. After I got the hundred, I just thought I should probably hit a few boundaries. The quickest outfield I have played on here. You got value for your shots. Incredible crowd. A step-up from the England game. Let this win sink in, we will think of the semi-final after that. Th 237 hasn't really sunk in. We still have a lot of work to do, so can't dwell too much no this."
This ensures one of the finalists will be playing their first final. Martin Guptill leads New Zealand off the field. What a performance from him today. From 100 off 111 to 237 off 163. It has set up the biggest score in a World Cup knockout match and the biggest win too. With nothing to lose, West Indies batsmen went hell for leather, entertained us with the chase, mounted the highest 30-over score in a World Cup match, but there was never enough quality in that side to chase near-400