সেথ র‍্যান্স

Seth Rance made his New Zealand debut when he was almost 30, eight years after making his maiden appearance for Central Districts. It was an eye-catching start for the all-rounder - right-arm medium and right-hand bat, claiming 11 wickets at economy of 6.37 in the HRV Cup, New Zealand's T20 competition back in 2009, which was the best returns in the tournament.

The contributions with the bat also came albeit in the longer format, but two fifties in his first year at a strike rate of around 90 showed there is more than promise to Rance's batting. However, he had a lean patch after that and only came into prominence when he was the leading wicket-taker with Brent Arnel in Super Smash 2016/17.

Those impressive figures handed Rance his maiden call-up to the New Zealand for the tri-nation One-Day series involving Bangladesh and Ireland. He made his debut against the latter and returned with 1/44, played only one game after that.

However, it was T20 that was brought him the headlines and it was the same format that allowed him to flourish while playing for New Zealand. Making his debut against Windies in 2017, Rance picked 3 for 30. He also picked another 3-fer in the following series versus Pakistan.

Since playing for the national team, Rance has improved in first class cricket. In the final game of the 2017/18 he recorded his best figures - 6 for 26 against Northern Districts. He might be in his thirties, but with performances like that and he might be playing all three formats for New Zealand.

By Akshay Maanay