The Caribbean Premier League ended with no silverware for the New Zealanders, but they made a big impression on the 2014 edition of this competition.
Ross Taylor top scored in the first semi-final, smacking 70 from 44 balls for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel to get his team back into the contest after a wobbly start with Daniel Vettori taking 21-0 from his three overs. Despite Taylor's knock, Vettori's Jamaica Tallawahs got up with two balls to spare, taking the win by four wickets.
They went on to meet Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham's Guyana Amazon Warriors in the next semi-final. Neesham took 26-1 from his three overs as the Tallawahs posted 134. In reply the Warriors made it look easy, with Guptill making 66 from 46 balls alongside Lendl Simmons, who scored 71*, to win the match by 10 wickets in the 15th over and book their place in the final.
Unfortunately for Guptill and Neesham, the final ended in the Amazon Warrior's second final defeat in a row - Guptill missed out with the bat (scoring seven from six before being bowled by Kyle Mayers), and his side went down by eight runs on Duckworth Lewis, in a stop-start affair.
Despite the disappointment at the end, the NZ contingent made their mark on the competition, with Guptill topping the batting averages with 51.14 and a strike rate of 126.05 - Taylor finished with a respectable 34.14 at 112.20. Vettori proved as valuable a Twenty20 bowler as ever, getting eight wickets at an economy rate of 5.65, the fourth lowest in the comp.
In the field, Kiwis showed the hard work put in with the BLACKCAPS pays off - like DK Morrison says, Kiwis can fly:
In England, Neil Wagner got 101-0 and 76-2 in his debut for Northants against Nottinghamshire at the County Ground, Northamptonshire. Andre Adams took 3-60 and 53-3 for Notts.
Kane Williamson hit 189 for Yorkshire in their nine wicket win over Sussex at Scarborough in the LV County Championship division one match. It was a marathon effort to say the least from 320 balls, with a bit of controversy thrown in - Williamson edged to the slips when on 16 and was recalled to the crease when the umpires ruled the catch was not held above ground. There was some feeling from the opposition after the incident, but Williamson's contribution under the circumstances was more than solid. Yorkshire will miss his runs when he leaves in just under a month to play for the Northern Knights in the Champions League.
Mitchell McClenaghan took 76-1 and 29-0 in Worcestershire's seven wicket loss to Gloucestershire. For Essex, Jesse Ryder scored 24 and 33 and picked up two wickets in his team's 63 run win over Glamorgan in Swansea in division two.
