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Aces could have Mills back for Twenty20 final

Auckland Aces host Canterbury Wizards in the inaugural Twenty20 final at Auckland’s Eden Park Outer Oval on Sunday.

Auckland Aces host Canterbury Wizards in the inaugural Twenty20 final at Auckland’s Eden Park Outer Oval on Sunday.

The teams met in this week’s Round 10 of the Shield, and the match was a closer encounter than their positions in the final table of the 50-over competition may indicate.

Canterbury claimed victory to earn a place in that competition’s final, while Auckland finished sixth and last.

However, the Aces have flourished in the new format and have gained home advantage for the showpiece occasion.

Auckland’s Blackcaps all-rounder Scott Styris acknowledged his team’s contrasting form in the limited-overs competitions.

“I don’t know why we’ve been better in Twenty20, but our 50 overs game has been abysmal,” he admitted.

“We’ve got the winning formula at Twenty20. I’m not too sure why - I guess we were just better than the opposition on the day.

Styris has played two international Twenty20 games for the Blackcaps and the English country competition and that experience has proven beneficial.

He added: “It’s a new game to New Zealand and the guys are still learning how to play it. In England they’re lucky as they’ve had three years to learn from their mistakes.

“Canterbury have got a lot of big hitters, but if we can get Kyle Mills and even Andre Adams back I think we can match them.

“We got a really good crowd against Wellington. The guys really enjoy playing in front of playing in front of a big crowd, so it’s going to be good.”

Styris’ Blackcaps colleague Peter Fulton also expects a great spectacle.

He said: “With the dimensions at Eden Park, we’ve a lot of guys who are big hitters, but Auckland also have good batters as well - but I’d back ours.”

Fulton said the new competition had already changed the way he thought about the One-Day and First Class games.

He added: “The two games we’ve played I really enjoyed. There’s a few more people than for a 50-over game and it’s always good to play in front of a bigger crowd. The 20 overs in the field flies by.

“Our team covers all aspects, from big hitters to people who can work it. Our slower bowlers and spin bowlers also prove hard to get.

“On face value, the slow bowlers may look vulnerable but they can be a lot more difficult as you cannot use the pace. I’ve noticed when you go back to the 50 over situation, scores which may have seemed hard to achieve, you now think you can knock off.

“Now, with 20-20, when you’re scoring eight or nine an over and there’s 90 to 100 runs to get, as long as you have wickets in hand you think you have a chance.”

Canterbury Wizards (from): Chris Harris (captain) Shane Bond, Leighton Burtt, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum, Paul Wiseman, Michael Papps, Peter Fulton, Shanan Stewart, Carl Anderson, Stephen Cunis, Nixon McLean, Sunnie Chan, Brent Findlay, Andrew Ellis, Iain Robertson.

Auckland Aces (from): Richard Jones (captain), Andre Adams, Gene Andrews, Tama Canning, Paul Hitchcock, Matthew Horne, Tim Lythe, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Mayu Pasupati, Gareth Shaw, Lance Shaw, Scott Styris, Lou Vincent, Kerry Walmsley, Reece Young.

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