Roger Twose

Roger Twose may not be the most attractive batsman to watch but his immense value to the New Zealand side can hardly be overstated. The 32- year-old England-born player is the shock absorber of the team, keeping one end tight and resolutely accumulating the runs. Twose came into the ICC KnockOut on the back of some supreme form in the three match one-day series against Zimbabwe where he produced scores of 70 not out, 64 and 63. Unfortunately for him the last two of those scores were in losing causes. In this quarterfinal game however, against the same opponents, Twose was to build the launchpad of a comfortable victory.

After New Zealand had been put into bat, Twose appeared in the middle at the fall of the second wicket with the score on 57. He saw his skipper Stephen Fleming depart soon after but found a durable partner in Chris Cairns with whom he added 51. But it was the arrival of Craig McMillan and his 95 run association with Twose that really formed the centrepiece of the innings. While McMillan was the pacemaker, Twose was no slouch. His favourite area was the backward point region to which several boundaries accrued and he also opened his shoulders on one occasion to swing Grant Flower over midwicket for six. For the most part however he was content to nudge the ball away for singles, especially in the V between longon and longoff.

Twose fell in trying to clear longoff and holing out to the fielder stationed on the boundary, having made a priceless 85 off 111 balls including six boundaries besides that one hit over the fence. New Zealand's final score of 265 proved too good for their adversary. Twose had an early hand in the proceedings, running backwards from midoff to complete a fine catch that packed off Craig Wishart, as Zimbabwe succumbed by 64 runs.