Coming off the back of a good start to the one day competition, the Auckland Aces are hoping to continue the good form into the HRV Cup which starts on Saturday against the Northern Knights in Mt Maunganui.
This is the first Twenty20 competition for Aces coach Paul Strang and he is relying heavily on the experience of the players to take the team through to the top. “This is a reasonably new format of the game and in many ways it’s still evolving,” he said. “There’s no set way about going about winning, we just want to be smart and build on our third placing from last year.”
The Aces have been struck with a few injuries, however Strang is confident the players in the team can step up and make every performance count. “We’ve had to pick from a small pool of players and they have done an incredible job.”
Spearheading the bowling attack for the Auckland side will be BLACKCAP pace bowler Daryl Tuffey, while the batting line up will feature overseas import Ravi Bopara and BLACKCAPS Scott Styris, Martin Guptill and Gareth Hopkins. “Bopara has been here for a month now and he has done a good job. There are a number of players who can stand up and produce match winning performances.”
Martin Guptill is one of those key players, who this week scored 157 for the Aces in a one-day game against the Wizards, to carry the Auckland side to victory. “We want the guys to take responsibility. We’ve got the depth that if someone doesn’t play so well someone else will step up.”
Strang is looking forward to the HRV Cup and the competitiveness it brings. “There are lots of good teams and whoever wins will have to play well the whole month. From our point of view we respect the opposition, but hopefully we can win on the day.”
The big prize is not only lifting the HRV Cup, but gaining a place at the Champion’s League. However Strang said he’s not focusing in the end result at the moment. “We are focused on the here and now. You can get distracted from the task at hand if you think about the Champion’s League,” he said. “It’s a nice prize that comes with lifting the HRV Cup. But we are focusing on having a good start then getting into the final and ultimately winning that.”
