Batsman firmly focused on playoffs
After a run of low scores in the Ford Trophy one-day cricket competition, Central Stags batsman Tom Bruce was due for some runs.
As it played out, they couldn’t have come at a better time as Bruce scored an unbeaten 70 alongside Will Young’s unbeaten 106 to lift the Stags over the Auckland Aces and into the playoffs.
It wasn’t just timely in terms of the domestic competition. Bruce has found his form with the Black Caps Twenty-20 and one-day squads to face South Africa scheduled to be announced tomorrow.
Bruce was set to line up for the Stags today as they host the Northern Knights at New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park in the third-versusfourth playoff.
While a chance to pull on a Black Caps jersey again sounded good to Bruce, he said that possi- bility wasn’t going to distract him from the task at hand.
‘‘You’ve just got to play for the Stags and not look too far ahead. What will be will be.’’
Bruce said while the two-time defending champions would have liked to finish higher than third, but were hoping late-season momentum would be on their side.
‘‘[Wellington’s Super Smash win] is a proven example that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
‘‘We’ll take it one game at a time. It’s do or die time now.’’
Bruce made his debut for the Black Caps earlier in the year in the side’s T20 series against Bangladesh, during which he brought up his maiden half century on the international stage.
The Stags 12-man line up for Saturday featured just one change, with Ben Smith coming into the side for Ross Taylor.
After discussions with the national selectors Mike Hesson and Gavin Larsen, Taylor was set to miss the Stags’ playoff against on Saturday in order to rest ahead of the big South Africa series of five one-day internationals and three tests.
Stags coach Heinrich Malan said Smith would be more than ready to go if called upon.
‘‘He’s found himself in an unfortunate position where he was in and out of the line up throughout the season.
‘‘To be successful, you need to have a squad of about 16 to 18 players who are ready to step up if called upon.’’
Malan said the side was eager to get out on to the pitch today, with the business end of the season always exciting.
‘‘It’s like we say, every cricket game starts at zeros. We’ve just got to go out there and get the job done.’’
The winner of the match goes on to meet the loser of the firstversus-second playoff match, between Wellington v Canterbury, for a shot to face the winner in the final.