“I said when I arrived in Canterbury that we had a team good enough to get the final and we’ve succeeded. This Sunday we’ll face Auckland at their stadium in front of a sell out crown of about 7,000 people – I can’t wait!
“Obviously they will have home advantage but having said that we managed to chase down a record score of 202 against them at Auckland earlier this week so that gave us some real confidence. Rob Nicholls scored a fantastic hundred off sixty balls and really set us off on our way, hopefully he can do the same on Sunday!
“In the competition we won seven of our ten games, lost one and the remaining two were abandoned because of the weather. Auckland finished two points ahead of us at the top of the table but our matches against each other have been really close so Sunday’s game will be hard to call. They beat us at home earlier in the competition so the odds have to be even, although they do have a really strong squad with a few internationals that will be looking to make their mark.
“As a team we’re approaching the game the same as any other, although we’re not underestimating how important a win is for the club – it would be their first t20 trophy so it would be great to be a part of their history.
“We trained at the beach earlier in the week, swimming, stretching and playing some touch football – it was a pretty chilled session after travelling back from Auckland the day before. We’ve had to fit in a few media commitments during the week and as the overseas player I’ve had to do a few interviews, which I’ve enjoyed.
“We had another training session at the ground today [Thursday] and there will be a full squad training session on Friday. We’ll fly to Auckland on Saturday morning and train at the stadium in the afternoon.
“Personally, it’s been a pretty good stint for me over here, I finished fourth overall in the bowling stakes with a really good economy rate and considering the other three bowlers ahead of me were spinners, I’m really pleased with that. I know my place in the team which is massively important, usually bowling the first two and last two overs, and I’m trying to keep it as simple as I can. I feel like my batting has improved too – I’ve hit a few balls out the ground so our batsmen better watch out!
“Last season when I played here I broke my finger so missed a few games but this year I really feel like I’ve been able to make my mark this time around. I’ve learnt a lot and I’ve really enjoyed the responsibility of being the overseas player.”
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