Another freak injury to Central Stags pace bowler Bevan Small marred their opening warmup cricket match of the season against Wellington in Napier.
Small fell awkwardly as he delivered his first ball of Tuesday's first Twenty20 match and suffered a dislocated left shoulder for a second time. He was assisted off Nelson Park, as Blair Tickner completed his over. X-rays cleared Small of any broken bones but Stags general manager Lance Hamilton said the 23-year-old faced around six weeks on the sideline, judging by his recovery from a previous injury.
"He's worked hard in England over the winter and remodelled his whole action, so for him to have a freak accident like this is pretty frustrating," Hamilton said.
It was more rotten luck for Manawatu's Small whose injury-plagued career features 12 first-class and 19 list-A matches over 4-1/2 years. He's also dislocated his right shoulder more than once and in 2013 had part of his 11th rib removed to alleviate pain from it hitting the top of his hip bone.
There was further injury drama for the Stags in game one as seamer Seth Rance suffered a groin strain and sat out the rest of the innings after bowling two overs for 13. But there was some encouraging news for Black Cap Ben Wheeler whose MRI scan in Christchurch showed no sign of a stress fracture, although he faces some time on the sidelines to rest his sore back.
Wellington claimed the overall honours, winning game two by 33 runs after game one was tied at 159-6 apiece.
Firebirds allrounder Alecz Day was the standout of game two, blazing an unbeaten 76 off 35 balls including seven sixes. It boosted their total to 189-6, despite the efforts of teenage allrounder Christian Leopard. The Hawke's Bay lad took some punishment but also four wickets, ending with 4-56 after taking two scalps in game one.
The Stags lost early wickets in their chase at the hands of the Firebirds' new recruit Anurag Verma. The former Northern Districts quick snaffled openers Greg Hay and Dean Robinson cheaply as the hosts slumped to 12-3. Skipper Kruger van Wyk struck 46 off 29 balls but the task was too great, while Leopard blasted 30 not out.
In game one, Wellington were well poised before Matt Thomas' left-arm spin stopped them in their tracks. Needing six off Thomas' final over with six wickets in hand, Wellington lost Luke Woodcock and Jamie Gibson in successive balls. It left Matt McEwan needing two off the final ball but he could only manage one. McEwan earlier took 3-25 while the Stags' Dane Cleaver blazed 74 off 41 balls including seven sixes before he retired with five overs left.
The Stags' New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne wasn't sighted as he was summoned to Christchurch as cover for the NZA team to play Sri Lanka A.
The teams meet again in a two-day match starting on Wednesday, eight days out from the start of the Plunket Shield season.
AT A GLANCE
Short scoreboards from two Twenty20 warmup matches at Nelson Park, Napier on Tuesday:
Game one: Central Districts 159-6 off 20 overs (Dane Cleaver 74, Ben Smith 27; Matt McEwan 3-25) tied with Wellington 159-6 off 20 overs (Michael Papps 38, Jamie Gibson 38, Alecz Day 31, Stephen Murdoch 25; Matt Thomas 2-21, Christian Leopard 2-37).
Game two: Wellington 189-6 off 20 overs (Day 76no, Papps 39, Matt Taylor 27; Leopard 4-56) beat Central Districts 156-9 (Kruger van Wyk 46, Leopard 30no; Dane Hutchinson 2-12, Anurag Verma 2-31) by 33 runs.