STATISTICS: Milestones and statistics from the third round of HRV Cup.
The Wellington Firebirds eventually, at the tenth time of asking, have beaten the Auckland Aces. In the previous nine matches they went close a couple of times, losing by just 2 runs on two occasions, but weren't able to get that elusive win until now.
In the time that the teams were on the field at University Oval Anton Devcich was able to improve his best bowling figures for the third time in three games this season. His final figures of 3 for 23 were an improvement on the 2 for 21 recorded against the Auckland Aces in his previous match. He is the leading wicket-taker after three rounds of the HRV Cup with seven scalps, ahead of Michael Bates and Muttiah Muralidharan, each with five wickets.
Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, each with 132 runs, are the leading runscorers after Round 3. James Franklin with 97 and Martin Guptill (96) are the nearest challengers.
The Central Stags v Canterbury Wizards match in New Plymouth was the tenth match to be completely abandoned out of 135 scheduled matches to date since the inception of the T20 competition in the 2005-06 season. In addition two matches were abandoned with no play after the toss was made. The match between the Otago Volts and Northern Knights in Dunedin is just the second to have been started but finish as a no result. Of the 121 completed matches four have been decided using the Duckworth/Lewis method while another four were decided on shortened overs.
The Otago Volts have been the team worst affected by the weather with six matches completely abandoned and four no result matches. The Auckland Aces, Central Stags and Northern Knights have had just three matches each not reach a decision while the Canterbury Wizards have had four and the Wellington Firebirds five.
