Anderson tops 500

Corey Anderson signed off a successful England Twenty20 Blast campaign as the competition’s fifth-highest runscorer as Somerset bowed out in the semifinals.

The Black Caps allrounder progressed the furthest of the New Zealand contingent in the T20 Blast, but his 48 off 32 balls wasn’t enough to overhaul Sussex in the second semifinal.

Sussex (202-8) won by 35 runs then went on to lose to Worcestershire in the decider on finals day at Edgbaston.

Anderson finished the season with 514 runs from 15 innings at an average of 43 and strike rate of 169, placing him fifth on the run charts. The top-three were Sussex’s Laurie Evans (614 runs), Surrey’s Aaron Finch (589) and Birmingham’s Ian Bell (580).

Black Cap Tom Latham ended eighth after his successful stint with Durham, scoring 470 runs at a strike rate of 137.

Martin Guptill played his part for champions Worcestershire, appearing in their first seven games and scoring 254 runs at a strike rate of 147 before going to the Caribbean Premier League.

Anderson will now return home to prepare for the New Zealand A tour of the United Arab Emirates where they face Pakistan A next month.

He fired down just four overs for Somerset in his T20 stint so his bowling may need more work, having undergone back surgery to repair a stress fracture late last year.

Fellow Black Caps Jeet Raval (Yorkshire), Matt Henry (Kent) and Lockie Ferguson (Derbyshire) remain with their counties with two rounds left in the first-class competition, starting tomorrow.