Jeetan Patel

The growing popularity of 20-over cricket was again in evidence as a packed house at Johannesburg watched New Zealand beat South Africa by five wickets

Shane Bond has included in both the Test and one-day squads for New Zealand's tour of Zimbabwe in August

Wellington added 8 runs to their fourth-day 268 for 9 before being all out, leaving Otago chasing 199 for victory on the final day

In a match which was billed as the last chance for the New Zealand hopefuls to stake their claims for a place in the national squad to face Australia, Tama Canning and James Franklin did their causes no harm, starring in North Islands' 58-run victory

No great surprises have occurred in the naming of players contracted to the six major associations for next summer

At 20 and poised on the threshold of his first extensive first-class and one-day season, Wellington off-spinner Jeetan Patel manifests many of the quirks which flood the personalities older, more time-worn bowlers