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Fast bowler confirms his role will be promotional-only as he saves energies for red-ball

Matt Roller30-Jun-2021While the rest of the country were glued to TV screens on Tuesday night, watching England’s 2-0 win against Germany at Euro 2020, James Anderson was bowling in the middle with Jon Lewis and Marcus Trescothick – England’s bowling and batting coaches – at Chester-le-Street following commentary duties with the BBC on the first ODI against Sri Lanka.The timing was not ideal – “it was their idea,” he sighed ruefully – but it highlighted the commitment and dedication that has served Anderson so well in prolonging his Test career: at some stage in the five-Test series against India this summer, he will overtake Anil Kumble as the third-highest Test wicket-taker of all time, and will hope to take his 1000th first-class wicket in the next two weeks, when he plays for Lancashire in the County Championship.And Anderson expects those extra sessions will become a regular feature over the course of the next few weeks for England’s Test bowlers. Having had several Championship rounds in which to build up their workloads ahead of the New Zealand series earlier this summer, England players will head into the first Test against India on August 4 on the back of two weeks playing in the Hundred, bowling a maximum of 20 balls a night, and while there are two rounds of Championship games at the start of July, the majority of the month’s domestic schedule involves white-ball cricket.”They might have to juggle their practice sessions and get a bit of red-ball practice in,” Anderson said, speaking at the BBC’s media launch of the Hundred, where he will work as a pundit, “because obviously there are different skills that you use for red-ball and white-ball cricket.”Most of the bowlers that we’ve got in our squad are experienced and they’re international players who have to balance that – one-day cricket and red-ball cricket – throughout their careers anyway, [so] I think they’re pretty used to that.”The majority of players I know are cricket badgers and want to play all forms of the game. They want to give everything a try and be the best at that. When I played white-ball cricket I wanted to be the best I possibly could in one-day cricket but I’ve moved away from that and really honed my skills in red-ball cricket. My hope is that there are still people growing up watching Test cricket who want to be Test cricketers and there are still people who want to be white-ball cricketers as well.”Related

• Aaron Finch, Nicholas Pooran, Meg Lanning withdraw from the Hundred

• Timeless James Anderson targets 'mind-blowing' milestones as 1000 first-class wickets loom

• James Anderson: England players committed to 'improving ourselves' in wake of Ollie Robinson row

• James Anderson thought he 'wasn't good enough' on debut, as he closes in on England caps record

Anderson and Stuart Broad are the only two centrally-contracted players who will not take part in the Hundred in a playing capacity, and while they are loosely affiliated with Manchester Originals and Trent Rockets respectively in a promotional role, Anderson admitted that he had considered playing his first short-form game since 2014 by taking part in the competition as a player.”I did think about whether I should actually try and get a gig as a player,” he said, “but in the end I just felt it was probably for the younger guys to crack on with that. I didn’t want to affect my Test availability by getting injured throwing myself around in the Hundred – it might not have been the best idea.”I did explore it – I was interested, but I fell down on the side of prolonging my Test career. I didn’t want to jeopardise that too much so I’ll leave it to the young lads to throw themselves around in the field too much.”But despite those concerns for his own career, Anderson said that he does not expect the likes of Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes to hold back when they play in the Hundred in an attempt to avoid injuries ahead of a gruelling schedule of five Tests against India at home and then five more away in Australia – as well as a T20 World Cup in October. He also echoed comments by Graham Thorpe, England’s assistant coach, suggesting that the Test team’s top-order batters would benefit from playing in the competition, which starts on July 21.”You can get injured at any point – that’s just the nature of the game,” Anderson said. “I don’t think people are going to be careful because of a Test series: you’ve got to throw yourself into it and try to play at 100% every time you get the chance. Hopefully nothing like that happens but there obviously is the chance because every time you go out on the field there is a chance of injury.”I think there’s definitely no harm in playing the Hundred and playing some white-ball cricket, having that freedom to go out there and try and hit the ball. Test cricket does have a way of trying to stifle you at times and you can get a bit uncertain about your technique or movements and things like that. All the Hundred will do is encourage positivity: positive moment of the feet, positive shots, and I think that can only be a good thing.”The Hundred will be on BBC Two, radio and online from Wednesday 21 July

Daniel Vettori has been ruled out of New Zealand’s Test tour of India due to a groin injury he suffered in the West Indies, while the batsman Dean Brownlie has been dropped after a disappointing Caribbean tour

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Aug-2012Daniel Vettori has been ruled out of New Zealand’s Test tour of India due to a groin injury he suffered in the West Indies, while the batsman Dean Brownlie has been dropped after a disappointing Caribbean tour. The offspinner Jeetan Patel has earned a recall as a result of his outstanding county form for Warwickshire, and the allrounder James Franklin has also been named in a 15-man squad.They are the only two changes from the group that lost 2-0 to West Indies over the past two weeks, with the legspinner Tarun Nethula again included despite being overlooked for an all-pace attack in Jamaica when Vettori was injured. New Zealand could play two spinners in the Indian conditions but if not, Nethula will face stiff competition for a spot from Patel, who has 38 first-class wickets at 23.65 in the County Championship this year.”The tour of India will be a great challenge and experience for this squad,” the national selection manager Kim Littlejohn said. “Unfortunately Daniel Vettori won’t recover in time for the Test series but his injury has created and opportunity for Jeetan Patel to come back into the side. Jeetan has been in great from for Warwickshire and deserves his opportunity.”James Franklin has been brought into the squad to bolster the batting. He brings a lot of experience and knowledge of playing in Indian conditions which will be invaluable. Dean Brownlie misses out on selection. We continue to see him as player of the future but at this stage we feel he needs to works on parts of his game. There’s no doubt he will work hard to regain selection.”The Indian trip consists of two Tests, beginning in Hyderabad on August 23, and will present an enormous challenge for New Zealand following their miserable Caribbean tour. They will especially require more from their batsmen; Kane Williamson’s 102 in Wellington in March is the only century made by a New Zealander in their past five Tests.Squad Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor (capt), Kane Williamson, BJ Watling, James Franklin, Kruger van Wyk, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Tarun Nethula, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin.

Kevin Pietersen’s selection for England’s tour of India is looking increasing likely

George Dobell13-Sep-2012England depart for Sri Lanka today with even more baggage than normal for a touring team. The decision to delay the announcement of the England squad for the Test tour of India means that speculation over the position of Kevin Pietersen will spill over into their World T20 campaign.It looks increasingly likely that Pietersen will be included in the squad for India. While for some time there was an impasse over Pietersen’s future, the appointment of Alastair Cook as captain seems to have revitalised the process. Cook missed the last round of Championship matches as did Pietersen which would have helped facilitate further talks between the pair.Cook, who is understandably keen to begin his captaincy career with the strongest possible team, would appear to have convinced all parties to redouble their efforts to find a solution to the Pietersen conundrum. While it would be premature to conclude that Pietersen will definitely be included, the situation is swinging that way.One man who insists that Pietersen should be included is Darren Gough, the former England fast bowler who played with Cook at Essex and was best man at Pietersen’s wedding. He accepts that Pietersen’s behaviour in recent months has fallen below acceptable standards but Gough believes that others players in the squad have also been at fault and that the time has now come to “shake hands and get on with it”.”There has been some immaturity on both sides,” Gough told ESPNcricinfo. “There are issues with the parody Twitter account – I think it’s obvious that players were involved in that – and there are issues with things that were written in players’ books about Kevin that were just not right. But at the same time, some of Kevin’s words have not been acceptable. Everyone knows that.”But haven’t we all called the boss a few names at some stage? It happens. You don’t have to be the best of friends on the pitch; you just have to be prepared to work together. Nasser Hussain and I used to argue like cat and dog when he was England captain. But neither of us ever held a grudge. He got the best out of me. I’d have run through a brick wall for him.”What do you do? You look each other in the eye, shake hands and get on with it. And that’s what I expect to happen.”Alastair Cook has come in. He’s an ambitious new captain and he wants to win. And so he should. So he’s come in determined to take the best side he can to India. He knows – we all know – that Kevin is in the best team. I’m very hopeful he’ll be in the team now and I definitely think he should be.”The England squad will be named on Tuesday.

Any worries that the first Twenty20 in Lauderhill would be a dreary contest were allayed by an exhibition of power hitting from the West Indian batsmen

The Report by George Binoy30-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle was Man of the Match for his 85 off 52 balls•AFP

Any worries that the first Twenty20 international in Lauderhill, Florida, would be a dreary contest because of a slow pitch were allayed by an exhibition of power hitting from the West Indian batsmen, much to the delight of the strong Caribbean contingent in the crowd. Kieron Pollard and Chris Gayle were the headliners, hitting missiles into the stands during a 108-run partnership plundered at almost 16 runs an over. Gayle began his innings watchfully but then accelerated to build a sound platform, which allowed Pollard to explode from the get-go and set a target that was comfortably out of New Zealand’s reach.New Zealand were listless in the field and looked every bit a side that hadn’t played international cricket since March. Their lines and lengths were unimaginative and inconsistent; they conceded 13 runs in wides and bowled three no-balls; and they missed a stumping, a run-out and a catch. They lost Ronnie Hira to an injured finger, and Jacob Oram and Ross Taylor damaged a knee and a shoulder while fielding. They have less than 24 hours to nurse those injuries and make plans to counter Gayle and Pollard before round two.Gayle played a calculated innings. He began carefully, leaving deliveries outside off and swaying away from bouncers, and was happy to let Dwayne Smith and Johnson Charles attack. However, whenever there was a lull in the scoring, Gayle would use his muscle. He could have been run out on 8 had a throw from mid-off struck the stumps at the non-striker’s end; it did not.In the tenth over, Gayle hit left-arm spinner Hira powerfully towards long-off, where Oram dived but failed to prevent the boundary. Oram hurt his knee during the dive and had trouble later while bowling – struggling with his line and footing – and running between the wickets. Gayle continued to attack the spinners, carting Nathan McCullum for consecutive straight boundaries before pulling Hira into the stands beyond midwicket. He then hammered the ball back at Hira, who dislocated a finger as he tried to intercept it. Hira went off the field immediately and played no further part in the game.Pollard entered in 14th over with West Indies 101 for 2. He hit his first and third balls for six, long-distance blows over long-off and long-on off the spinner Kane Williamson. His seventh, off Rob Nicol, also disappeared over long-off. Pollard took charge of the partnership from there on, and Gayle cruised in his slipstream. In the 17th over, Pollard top-edged a pull off Oram towards fine leg, where Taylor circled under the swirling ball and fell hard on his shoulder as he dropped the catch. He would retire hurt at the end of the sixth over of the chase because of that injury.The penultimate over was the most expensive of the innings. Pollard sent a length ball from Doug Bracewell over the straight boundary to go past 50 off his 24th ball, and then Gayle decided he wanted in on the action. Gayle powered one six flat over long-on, burning McCullum’s hands in the process, and sent two more far over deep midwicket to take 26 runs off the 19th over. Fifteen more came in the 20th, as West Indies amassed 209.West Indies weren’t as clinical in the field as they had been with the bat. Their bowlers bowled poor lines, which allowed New Zealand’s openers to find the boundary frequently. They also had an injury concern, when Pollard dived and hurt his shoulder while trying in vain to stop a boundary at mid-off.New Zealand had scored 37 in four overs when Darren Sammy gave Sunil Narine the ball, with immediate results. His first ball was down leg side but Guptill had come out of his crease and overbalanced, leaving Denesh Ramdin with a sharp stumping to complete. In the next over, after scoring 1 off his first eight balls, Taylor cut Samuel Badree for two fours. He winced and clutched his shoulder after each of those shots, and eventually went off the field.Wickets began to fall regularly after that and the asking-rate soared out of reach. West Indies grew sharper in the field as well, effecting two run outs with direct hits. The game ended when Oram skied a catch to long-off in the penultimate over. New Zealand were nine down but Hira had a compound fracture and did not bat.

SLC technical committee chairman Aravinda de Silva shares details of future plans

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Apr-2021Sri Lanka is looking to revive inter-provincial cricket in the latest attempt to create a more competitive first-class structure. Although exact details of the new competition have not been announced, chairman of SLC’s technical committee Aravinda de Silva has hinted that the provincial system will become the premier multi-day competition in the country. The present club system will continue to exist with only minor alterations as well.Provincial cricket has been sporadically attempted in Sri Lanka, but such competitions have largely been short in duration, and have done little to connect with a fan base from the provinces each team is supposed to represent. De Silva suggested the existing first-class clubs (of which there are now 26), may be required to band together in clusters to administer each of these provincial teams. This is an idea that had first been floated in 2015, by Mahela Jayawardene, before a change of leadership at SLC did away with the plan for a cluster system.”We are trying to create another tier in domestic cricket through a provincial tournament,” de Silva said. “What we want to do is make that a stronger four-day competition. In that provincial competition, we will have an “A” tier as well, which will give players opportunities to qualify for development squads. But the main provincial competition will be the feeder for the national team.”We’re trying to create a pathway from the bottom to the top by clustering clubs so that we develop players leaving the school system right to the highest level.”De Silva was adamant that although the existing club system may be trimmed down to three-day matches (at present, clubs play a mixture of three and four-day encounters), and although the number of club matches may be reduced to make way for the provincial tournament, the club system would continue to be an integral part of Sri Lanka’s domestic structure. The club tournament also would not lose its first-class status.”The clubs provide the infrastructure for players who are just out of school, because they get facilities, support and opportunities, to give these players a foundation. Without that foundation – if we get rid of the clubs – it’s like we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. The club system has been the foundation for us to develop our cricketers thus far. If we get rid of that system, it will be very difficult for us to bridge that gap. You need somewhere for the 3000-odd cricketers leaving the school system to continue playing.”SLC has made no official announcements on the exact nature of the new domestic structure yet. De Silva’s technical committee working closely with Tom Moody – Sri Lanka’s new director of cricket – to finalise tournament details.The clubs, however, may need to be won over by these new proposals. They have typically been resistant to accept additional first-class competitions that threaten the club structure’s status as the top domestic competition in the country.

Worcestershire will decide within the next 48 hours whether they will need to relocate their County Championship match against Surrey.

George Dobell03-May-2012Worcestershire will decide within the next 48 hours whether they will need to relocate their County Championship match against Surrey.The game, which starts on Wednesday May 9, is currently scheduled to be played at Worcestershire’s New Road home. But with flood water currently covering three pitches on the square and a large portion of the outfield, the club need to make contingency plans.Worcestershire have already arranged to stage Monday’s CB40 game against the Netherlands in Kidderminster and will shortly make a decision over whether the Surrey game also needs to be moved. Surrey have offered to stage the game at the Kia Oval but Worcestershire declined. The club has a deal with Birmingham League club Kidderminster Victoria whereby they can utilise the ground in the case of flooding.”Kidderminster is our second home,” David Leatherdale, Worcestershire’s chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo, “and if we can’t stage the game at New Road, we’ll stage it at Kidderminster.”The game will also be notable for the appearance of Kevin Pietersen, who will be playing for Surrey ahead of the Test series against West Indies. While Pietersen may find the facilities at Kidderminster a little basic, he should be familiar with them. He played a season for Cannock in the Birmingham League and, in 2002, played at the ground with Nottinghamshire when he was dismissed for 13 and 0 by Alamgir Sheriyar. Pietersen should enjoy the flat pitch and quick outfield, though. Kidderminster Victoria’s groundsman, who moved to them from West Bromwich Dartmouth over the winter, was the Birmingham League groundsman of the year in 2011.The good news for Worcestershire is that the flood water does not look nearly as dirty as that which forced them to abandon New Road for much of the 2007 season. On that occasion, the flood water carried with it sewage and slurry from the fields. This flood should prove far easier – and less expensive – to clear. However, while the club report that the flood waters have receded a little over the last 24 hours, more rain is forecast.Worcestershire have also started to explore the market for an overseas player to replace Saeed Ajmal, who has pulled out of his deal to represent them in T20 this season. Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan left-arm seamer and hard-hitting batsman, is one option.”Steve Rhodes has spoken to his agent and there is a chance that he will join us for the final eight matches of the T20 season,” Leatherdale confirmed. “But it is early days.”

Saif Hassan, Aminul Islam Biplob picked in squad alongside U-19 stars Akbar Ali and Rakibul Hasan

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2021The BCB has named Saif Hassan and Aminul Islam Biplob in the 20-member preliminary Bangladesh Emerging players squad for their upcoming home series against the Ireland Wolves – the Ireland A side. The visitors arrive on February 18, to play a four-day game, five one-dayers and two T20s.The Wolves’ tour begins in Chattogram, where they will be in quarantine for three days before the four-day game takes place at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium from February 26.The one-day series begins on March 5 at the same venue, before the tour moves to Dhaka for the fourth and fifth games. The two T20s, on March 17 and 18, will also be held in Dhaka.The home side have picked several players who triumphed in the Under-19 World Cup a year ago, including Akbar Ali, Rakibul Hasan and Tanzid Hasan. Among the slightly older players are Saif, Biplob and Mahidul Islam.Bangladesh’s squad has already started to train in Chattogram from earlier this week.The tour assumes greater importance for Ireland, given the postponement of the team’s tour of Zimbabwe. Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, had said after the postponement was announced on Monday that they would look at this tour as a way to “to provide many of our players the volume and quality of cricket we need to keep the momentum in player development we have been seeing over the last few years.”Bangladesh Emerging squad: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Shahadat Hossain, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Towhid Hridoy, Anisul Islam, Shamim Hossain, Shafiqul Islam, Mukidul Islam, Shahin Alam, Sumon Khan, Noman Chowdhury, Rejaur Rahman, Aminul Islam, Rakibul Hasan, Tanvir Islam, Rishad Hossain, Mahidul Islam, Akbar AliIreland Wolves squad: Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Peter Chase, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell (red-ball capt), Stephen Doheny, Jonathan Garth, Shane Getkate, Graham Hume, Jeremy Lawlor, Josh Little, James McCollum, Neil Rock, Harry Tector (white-ball capt), Lorcan Tucker, Ben White.

At a noisy Eden Gardens, Knight Riders injected some life into their campaign with a straightforward six-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran26-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jacques Kallis chipped in with two key wickets, and a steadying 37•BCCI

“We know that we are in a desperate situation,” Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir said before the start of the match. With three consecutive defeats coming into this game, the defending champions Knight Riders were in disarray. To add to that, in the lead-up to the game, their allrounder Jacques Kallis – who hadn’t missed a game since joining the franchise in 2011 – was a doubtful starter after twisting his right knee in the previous match. And one of their experienced local batsmen, Manoj Tiwary, had an injury to his right hand.However, at a noisy Eden Gardens, Knight Riders injected some life into their campaign with a straightforward six-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab. Not only did Kallis play, he bowled a miserly spell and took the wickets of two key Kings XI batsmen, besides chipping in with a steadying 37 after Knight Riders lost Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan in the second over.Tiwary wasn’t fit to play, but that also worked in Knight Riders’ favour as his replacement, Manvinder Bisla, shrugged off his indifferent form with an unbeaten half-century that confirmed the win. He was assisted by Eoin Morgan, the team’s designated finisher, who came in and played a series of typically flamboyant strokes to hasten the chase and cut out the tension of a final-over finish.There was something of a surprise early on when Adam Gilchrist walked out to the toss – “I managed to sneak in another selection,” he joked, highlighting how close he was to losing his place after a sustained poor run this season. Gilchrist managed to make his highest score of the season, a run-a-ball 27, but it might still not be enough to save his place for the next game.Gilchrist combined with Mandeep Singh to provide Kings XI their best start this year, before Kallis broke the opening partnership with his first delivery, getting Mandeep chipping to midwicket. That set up a trend of Kings XI batsmen getting starts without making a big score – Gilchrist holed out to midwicket soon after, Manan Vohra top scored with 31 before picking out the fielder at sweeper cover, David Hussey perished on 21.Kallis and Sunil Narine choked the runs towards the end of the innings, and Kings XI only managed 20 from the 16th to the 19th over. They finished with a flourish though as Gurkeerat Singh slammed a couple of sixes off L Balaji in the final over to lift the score to 149.That began to look daunting after Mahmood dismissed Gambhir and Pathan off successive deliveries. Kallis and Bisla, though, put the chase on track with a 66-run stand for the third wicket. Kallis was caught behind attempting a dab in the 11th over, and Knight Riders could have been in big trouble if the bails had fallen after a Piyush Chawla delivery hit leg stump with Morgan on 0. The bails didn’t fall, and Morgan unfurled a series of big hits to hand Kings XI their second straight defeat.

A five-wicket haul from Shane Shillingford caused trouble for the New Zealanders on the last day of their tour match in Antigua, but the visitors managed to cling on for a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2012
ScorecardA five-wicket haul from Shane Shillingford caused trouble for the New Zealanders on the last day of their tour match in Antigua, but the visitors managed to cling on for a draw. Brendon McCullum scored 51 and Kruger van Wyk made an important contribution of 38 not out as New Zealand struggled to 181 for 8, after Daniel Vettori and Neil Wagner finished off the WICB President’s XI on the final morning.The President’s XI added only 27 to their overnight score for the loss of their last three wickets. Wagner, who is pushing to make his debut when the first Test starts on Wednesday, finished with 3 for 65 after he collected the wicket of Veerasammy Permaul, who fell victim to an outstanding catch from van Wyk.Vettori grabbed the last two wickets to end up with 6 for 48, but it is not the New Zealand bowling that is their major concern ahead of the first Test. After they were skittled for 149 in the first innings the visitors needed a stronger showing in the second innings to boost their confidence, but the openers Daniel Flynn and Martin Guptill both fell for single-figure scores.McCullum was more successful and put on 57 with Ross Taylor for the third wicket, but it was the team’s only half-century stand of the innings. Taylor (19) and Kane Williamson (25) fell to the spin of Shillingford, as did Dean Brownlie for 5 and Vettori for 2. New Zealand might be pleased Shillingford was not named in West Indies squad for the first Test, but the spin of Sunil Narine will not be any easier to handle.It was only through van Wyk’s fighting innings and some lower-order support from Tarun Nethula and Wagner that New Zealand avoided defeat. Wagner survived for nearly an hour for his 5 not out and combined with his three wickets, his performance has shown the selectors his fighting qualities as they prepare to finalise their side for the first Test.”We had to fight hard,” Wagner said after the match. “Obviously I wanted to show that I’m pretty keen to get a crack at some point on this tour. This was a perfect opportunity to try and fight hard and that’s what Test cricket is about.”Vettori said this match provided New Zealand with ideal practice ahead of the Test. “I think we were pretty lucky to play close to the wicket that we are going to play on in the Test match. If we can’t learn stuff from this game then we never will.”I think, while we are disappointed with the position we were in, there’s been some really good things [to come out of the tour match], particularly the bowling of Neil Wagner. He brings a lot of energy. He runs in hard all day and wants to compete the whole time, and I think he’s a welcome addition to our side.”

James Franklin blasted 68 off 38 balls to take bottom-dwellers Wellington to a comfortable win over table-toppers Auckland at the Basin Reserve

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2011
ScorecardJames Franklin blasted 68 off 38 balls to take bottom-dwellers Wellington to a comfortable win over table-toppers Auckland at the Basin Reserve. Franklin and Brendan Taylor, who made 53, helped the hosts chase Auckland’s middling total of 157 in just 18.3 overs, giving Wellington their first win of the tournament.Wellington lost a wicket in the first of their chase but Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, scored quickly to give them a platform. When Taylor was dismissed in the 14th over, Wellington needed 51 to win off 39 balls. Franklin needed just 30; he hit three sixes and five fours in his knock to take Wellington home.Auckland’s innings had been hampered by a cluster of wickets falling at the start and then again in the end. Early strikes had left them 45 for 3 in the seventh over. They recovered to reach 150 for 5 in the 19th but five wickets fell in the last two overs, preventing a final surge. In between those spells Gareth Hopkins and Anaru Kitchen played important hands. Kitchen scored 39 off 27 balls while Hopkins hit seven fours in his 49 off 33 balls. Grant Elliott struck twice in the last over and there was also a run-out. The flurry of the wickets at the end cost Auckland a few runs and made the chase easier for Wellington.