The Kiwis may not have won the competition, but they did come home as the Plate winners at the recent Hong Kong Sixes competition.
The competition, which is overseen by the ICC, featured eight teams from around the globe including South Africa, Australia, India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The annual competition was launched in 1992 and ran until 1996, returning after a break in 2001.
The competition, which was played on November 6 and 7, involves teams made up of six players with five six ball overs in each innings. Each member of the side must bowl (except for the wicketkeeper) and batsmen retire as “not out” on 31 (or 36 if they hit a six on the last ball).
The New Zealand side was full of talented all-rounders including BLACKCAPS Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey and Nathan McCullum, Canterbury Wizards Logan van Beek and Carl Frauenstein, Harry Boam from the Firebirds and big hitter Kieran Noema-Barnett from the Stags.
Styris said he was pleased with how the kiwi side performed. “All the guys played well for the best part of it,” he said. “It’s a good sign that New Zealand cricket had seven guys who could all bat and bowl at a good level.”
The team had a rough start when rain hampered their games, however it didn’t dampen their spirits and they were able to compete to a high level for the remainder of their matches. “We won the plate for the second year in a row, which is good,” Styris said. “Unusually it rained, so the first day of the tournament got wiped out. So we had to participate in a condensed tournament. We struggled with a few early games but we got better as the tournament went on.
“It’s good to win something rather than nothing. If we had won some of our bigger games earlier on in the competition we would have been right up there with the best. But it was good to go back at take out the plate once again.”
Hong Kong isn’t a usual cricketing destination, so the players enjoyed experiencing a new way of life. Styris said it was all part of the experience at the Hong Kong Sixes. “Personally I’ve never played cricket there before, so it’s good to experience a new culture.”
