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Wellington's Jesse Ryder, who made 96, shows his style during yesterday's victory over the Otago Volts. - Source: Fairfax
Jesse Ryder called it "rusty" but standing at the other end, Wellington skipper Grant Elliott could only shake his head as the big left-hander made his return to action with a booming knock in a one-day match against Otago yesterday.
In his first game for a month following a calf injury, Ryder single-handedly drove Wellington to victory on a ground (Invercargill's Queens Park) too small for a man of his quality and power.
He slammed five sixes and 11 fours in his 67 ball innings, meaning 74 of his 96 runs came in boundaries.
Together with Elliott, he put on 120 runs in 14 overs, the telling stanza in a game Wellington went on to win by 25 runs.
"He batted brilliantly," Elliott said. "He played his shots, he took the attack to them and it was unfortunate he didn't get a 100.
"He said he felt rusty, but it didn't look that way at all, and it was awesome to have him back."
With three-quarters of his runs coming in boundaries, Ryder did not have to run a great deal but he was in the middle for 81 minutes then completed Wellington's effort in the field, picking up two catches in the process.
Elliott was unsure whether Ryder's impressive return would see him fast-tracked back into the New Zealand set-up but as far as Wellington is concerned, Ryder is expected to play at club level for Naenae Old Boys at the weekend and a couple of Wellington trial games after that.
Elliott said Ryder was "brutal" against the spin of Otago's Nick Beard, who was removed from the home team's attack after conceding 56 from six overs.
There were a couple of other talking points in the deep south yesterday.
Wellington chose to omit Luke Woodcock from their playing XI on a day when conditions warranted only one spinner.
"It was disappointing to leave Luke out but there was only room for one spinner and Jeets [Jeetan Patel] bowled very well in the last game against Auckland," Elliott said.
The other notable was a five-wicket bag to James Franklin, as Wellington successfully defended 276.
Franklin took 5-46 and noted afterwards that it was his first five-wicket bag for Wellington since 2004.
For all that, Wellington still finished an unacceptable fifth in the one-day competition and no-one is more disappointed that Elliott. He chipped in with 63 from 73 balls yesterday but said it was of little personal satisfaction.
"The situation we are in is pretty gutting so individual achievements are fruitless if we don't win competitions.
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"We've got one competition left to play in [Plunket Shield] and we are going to give it everything.
In the other games yesterday Northern Districts beat Canterbury by four wickets and Central Districts triumphed over Auckland by eight wickets.
Otago now host the sudden death semifinal against Canterbury on Sunday with the winner playing the loser of the major semifinal between top qualifier Central Districts and Auckland.
