Jacob Duffy. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Hitting the mark
Jacob Duffy. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Otago spearhead Jacob Duffy shone during the opening ODI against Sri Lanka overnight on Wednesday (NZ time).
The 30-year-old right-armer nabbed three for 41 from 8.2 overs in a losing effort.
He was easily the best of the New Zealand bowlers on display, which served to highlight how under-rated he is, really.
With Tim Southee still ahead of him in the pecking order, it is hard to see how Duffy will get a run in a test anytime soon.
But perhaps he should. And soon.
Former Volts all-rounder Nathan Smith made his long-awaited international debut in the game and had a tough match. His eight wicketless overs cost 66 runs and he was bowled for nine.
It was Kusal Mendis who blew the game apart with a rollicking 143 off 128.
In September, he teamed up with Ramesh Mendis and Kamindu Mendis to help Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 63 runs in the first test in Galle.
Together they were tri-Mendis.
(Sub-editor’s note: we apologise to ODT readers for the quality of this joke.)
Clubbing it
Our default setting is to blame it all on PlayHQ.
But there must have been some operator error as the results from the Taieri-University-Grange Dunedin premier grade game were not available on Sunday.
A photo of the scorebook got emailed through instead.
Dunedin Cricket manager Angus Herron went the extra mile to get it through to us. Much appreciated.
Otago A piled on the runs in the first innings of their three-day match against a New Zealand development team this week.
Sebastian Lauderdale-Smith, Jacob Cumming and Yuvraj Singh Khara all pummelled centuries.
Cumming’s knock will have pleased the Volts’ management.
The young opener had eye surgery recently and has quickly returned to some good form.
He shapes as a possible starter in the Volts’ next Plunket Shield match against Wellington in Dunedin early next week.
The declaration
Reader Nicholas Wong wrote in this week with some interesting observations.
He is a keen follower of the game and noted the vast difference in the television coverage of the White Ferns compared with the Black Caps at their respective T20 World Cups.
"When the White Ferns were involved in the T20 World Cup this year, there was no post-game show after each of their matches until they made the playoffs (and even then, the show also had to share the spotlight with the Black Caps’ tour of India).
"If the White Ferns didn’t get out of the group stages (like the Black Caps), they would not have had any reviews of any of their games on TV."
