New Zealand’s Grant Elliott announces ODI retirement

New Zealand’s 2015 World Cup hero, Grant Elliott has retired from ODI cricket. The 37-year-old all-rounder is famous for the six he hit off the penultimate ball off Dale Steyn in the semi-final last year to propel his team to their first World Cup final. The shot was voted by the New Zealand public as the sporting moment of 2015.

Elliott announced his retirement to Newshub at Auckland Airport on Friday after the New Zealand team returned home from the World T20 in India following a semi-final exit. He represented his country in 83 Odis scoring 1976 runs at an average of 34.06 including 2 tons and 11 fifties. His best score was 115 against the Aussies in 2009. Elliott took 39 wickets at 30.23 in the 50-over format.

“I’m going to reassess, let the dust settle. As long as I’m still enjoying my cricket, I haven’t really made a call on anything yet. I’ve played my last one-day game, but there are three formats. I won’t be considered for Test cricket, I haven’t seen my test clothing for a few years. There’s still T20 cricket and my body feels good. I’m going to reassess and let the dust settle. As long as I’m enjoying my cricket, I haven’t made a call on anything yet. So I’ll just get home and assess it,” he said.

The highlight of Elliott’s international career came in his final year of ODI cricket after he received a surprise recall for the 2015 World Cup; Elliott had not played an ODI since November 2013. He scored a match-winning 84 not out against the Proteas and top-scored with 83 in the final against the eventual champions Australia at the MCG.

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