Could this be the Volts’ lucky break at last?
The New Year's newsflash is that the Knights have lost senior paceman Brent Arnel from their team travelling south to play Otago Volts in Dunedin tomorrow with a neck strain causing Arnel discomfort when bowling.
Arnel is one of the top 10 wicket-takers in this summer’s competition and his smarts as the wise old head of the Knights’ attack has been even more valuable since they lost the quick Scott Kuggeleijn to injury.
In Arnel’s stead, the pink camp has brought in uncapped former New Zealand Under-19s allrounder Sean Davey.
The 24-year-old captured attention from solid performances for Hawke Cup holders Bay of Plenty over the past two seasons, scoring centuries against Nelson and Hawke’s Bay in Hawke Cup defences last summer and another against Hamilton at ND intra-district level.
Good in all formats, this season Davey’s taken four wickets in each innings in a match for the ND A side against Auckland A as well as being one of the leading performers with both bat and ball at the recent Brian Dunning Trophy T20 tournament in Taupo, so he’ll be fired up to keep his hot summer running if selected in the XI on Knights debut tomorrow.
The Volts have also sprung a surprise with the inclusion of exciting North Otago teenager Llew Johnson, also an uncapped player at domestic level.
Knights teammate Tim Seifert meanwhile remains top of the Burger King Super Smash runs leaderboard after another good performance at the top at Pukekura Park on the weekend.
Smashing Seifert has 243 runs from six games, but he's being chased by Stags captain Will Young who’s been in excellent touch with 179 runs from one fewer game while veteran Stags star Jesse Ryder rounds out the top three with 177 runs from just four games.
But the electric form of Wellington Firebird Luke Ronchi sees him only marginally behind that leading bunch with a phenomenal 176 runs from just three knocks at an average strike rate above 185!
Burger King Super Smash at University of Otago Oval, Dunedin
2 January 2018 | LIVE on SKY Sport 4.10pm
VOLTS
Rob Nicol (captain)
Hamish Rutherford
Shawn Hicks
Neil Broom
Derek de Boorder (wicketkeeper)
Josh Finnie
Brad Wilson
Llew Johnson (uncapped)
Neil Wagner
Warren Barnes
Jacob Duffy
Matt Bacon
Michael Rippon
KNIGHTS
Dean Brownlie (captain)
Peter Bocock
Sean Davey (uncapped)
Anton Devcich
Daniel Flynn
Brett Hampton
Chris Jordan
Nick Kelly
Daryl Mitchell
Brett Randell
Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper, gun)
Joe Walker
