ONE
Number of matches remaining in the 2017 Ford Trophy. Eight rounds, 27 matches, 35 days and now it all boils down to Canterbury or the Wellington Firebirds.
13
Number of times Canterbury has won The Ford Trophy. It’s the most by any side, but they haven’t done it in a decade. The Volts have won it only twice. That’s just to make red and black supporters feel better. The Firebirds have won seven, and their most recent title was three seasons ago when they beat ND in the Final away at Mount Maunganui.
46
Number of seasons we have had a national one-day trophy up for grabs. Canterbury was the inaugural winner in 1971/72.
109
Number of List A (domestic one-day) matches Canterbury captain Andrew Ellis has played. He’ll be playing number 110 with a still-broken thumb, which could be a good omen as Frances Mackay played the Women’s One-Day final with a broken thumb last weekend and Canterbury won that. No pressure though guys.
199
Number of List A matches Jeetan Patel is going to reach this Saturday when he pulls on the yellow and black cap.
1
Number of Wellington Firebirds in the top 10 run-makers this season. Rearguard run-smasher Matt Taylor sneaks in there at 10, with 262 runs at 65.50. Fellow closer Luke Woodcock isn’t too far behind, he’s got 249 at 41.50. Tells you a lot about where their games have been won on the batting front. Leading run-scorer of the season will remain the Stags’ George Worker, way out in front with 659 at 82.37 after teaching the rest of the country how to build a white-ball innings on any kind of surface. Canterbury’s Henry Nicholls will need to score more than 300 runs by himself in the Final to catch that. Likewise, no batsman can now catch Worker’s stat of six half centuries or better from 10 innings this summer.
2
Number of wickets required by Firebirds pace duo Anurag Verma and Hamish Bennett to become the season’s equal top wicket-taker. If either man can go one better, then they would move clear of ND’s Scott Kuggeleijn, who ended with 17 wickets, and will be shooting it out with each other for the overall top honour. Bennett also has one of the best economy rates around at 4.37, which is even lower than teammate Brent Arnel, who is getting called an ageless wonder a lot this season.
3
Number of bowlers who have taken a bag of four or more wickets more than once this season. Both of Verma’s were against the Central Stags, match-winning efforts in Napier early on and then the all-important Elimination Final this week, and he did from change. George Worker, who put together back-to-back career bests with the ball at Pukekura Park, and Anaru Kitchen for the Volts were the others.
1
Sleep until the 2017 Grand Final. There will be a new name on the trophy tomorrow. See you at Mainpower Oval in Rangiora tomorrow, live on SKY Sport from 11am.
