Martin Guptill produced another superb innings of 70 (off 41 balls) during the HRV Cup final to finish the competition on top of the MVP rankings for 2012.
Guptill thrilled the home crowd with an intelligent innings that was punctuated by four boundaries and four huge sixes, ultimately laying the platform for the Auckland Aces victory.
Aces captain Gareth Hopkins acknowledged Guptill’s contribution throughout the tournament by stating “Martin has been in devastating form and his combination with Azhar at the top of the innings ensured we got off to a great start in most games. While it’s hard to single out any one player Gup certainly deserves this recognition as the MVP this year“.
Not only did Guptill win the overall MVP, but he also finished at the top of the MVP batting table as well. Guptill made 504 runs throughout the HRV Cup at an average of 72, scoring one of the six centuries in the competition to complement three further half centuries.
The MVP formula accounts for all areas in which a player contributes to the team and although Guptill’s athleticism in the field accounted for some valuable fielding points, he was not completely invincible, finishing with a negative MVP bowling points tally.
Guptill himself said “I am thrilled to win the Fujitsu Heat Pumps MVP award this year. We had a great campaign and it is great to think that my efforts have helped the Aces to be the first team to defend the HRV Cup title”.
Canterbury Wizards all-rounder Rob Nicol completed another outstanding season of T20 cricket to finish the MVP rankings in second place. Nicol was the only player to feature inside the top 10 of both the overall MVP batting (5th) and bowling (2nd) tables and had the distinction of being the highest placed player in both MVP categories for the Wizards.
The T20 format is not considered a favourite pastime for bowlers, least of all for spinners with batsmen in an aggressive mindset. However, this year the two leading MVP bowlers were both spinners and a total six of the top 11 players were also spinners, reinforcing the trend for the slower bowlers playing a big role in T20 cricket.
Roneel Hira was the winner of the Fujitsu Heat Pumps MVP bowling rankings and was the joint leading wicket taker in the competition. Hira’s 76.06 MVP bowling points placed him well clear of Rob Nicol who was second with 54.27. The Auckland Aces team had four players (Andre Adams, Michael Bates and Kyle Mills) inside the top 10 MVP bowling rankings who all combined to suppress their oppositions scoring momentum during much of the HRV Cup.
The winner of the MVP fielding rankings for the T20 was Central Stags wicket keeper Kruger van Wyk.
