Finn Allen pushes Black Caps case as Wellington Firebirds win
Finn Allen continued to push his case for a maiden Black Caps callup with a blistering innings of 73 off 35 balls as the Wellington Firebirds beat the Auckland Aces in the Twenty20 Super Smash on Sunday.
Once the prodigious opener was dismissed, incumbent Black Cap Devon Conway took over and made an unbeaten 91 off 58 balls at Eden Park Outer Oval.
Tom Blundell also chipped in with 46 off 23 as they posted 230-2 from their 20 overs, a new record total for their team and at that ground and one that proved to be far beyond the Aces’ reach.
The 39-run win was the perfect warmup for next Saturday's grand final at the Basin Reserve, as far as the Firebirds were concerned, and they will be favourites to defend their title against either the Central Stags or Canterbury Kings, who meet in the elimination final on Thursday.
Allen has now scored 496 runs at an average of 62 and a strike rate of 196 in the Super Smash this season, producing innings of 53 off 23, 91 not out off 50, 75 off 39, 92 not out off 43, and 66 off 27 prior to Sunday.
With incumbent Black Caps opener Martin Guptill struggling for form – his only innings of 50 or more this summer across all formats and levels was in the opening round of the Plunket Shield back in October – and managing a hamstring injury, which kept him out of Sunday’s fixture, the door is open for Allen to make the step up.
But with coach Gary Stead backing Guptill during the week, as he and Gavin Larsen prepare to name their squad for five T20s against Australia, while suggesting the discussion was a product of the media “[having] to write things in papers and stuff,” Allen might have to wait.
The Aces had no answer for the Firebirds’ onslaught with the bat, but Sean Solia did manage to concede just 23 runs from his four overs while picking up the wicket of Allen, who hit one of his four sixes over the main stand.
Chasing a mammoth target of 231 – and needing to score at more than 12 runs per over – the Aces made their way to 56-2 at the end of the six-over powerplay and 98-4 at the halfway point, but their task was only growing harder.
They were ultimately dismissed for 191 off the final ball of their innings with Will O’Donnell’s 38 off 24 their highest score.
Jimmy Neesham picked up three wickets – in one over at the death – and Hamish Bennett, Logan van Beek, and Peter Younghusband each nabbed a brace as the Firebirds made it nine wins out of 10 in the regular season.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/crick...s-black-caps-case-as-wellington-firebirds-win
Video for his innings is in the link, looks like he's gotten it together since moving to Wellington.
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