When Corey Anderson and Jesse Ryder struck whirlwind centuries against the West Indies in New Zealand on New Year's Day, both surely wondered if their fireworks would pay dividends at the Indian Premier League auction.
In Anderson's case, it exceeded his wildest dreams.
The 23-year-old allrounder was snapped up by the Mumbai Indians for 45 million rupees (about $NZ865,000), as a frantic bidding war pushed his price up among the elite players selected for the rich Twenty20 championship.
Several blazing knocks - most notably his world record 36-ball knock in the ODI at Queenstown - and some useful stints with the ball at international level raised the stocks of Anderson, who will be the best-paid of the five Kiwis in the IPL.
The others are Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum (Chennai Super Kings, $NZ628,000), pace bowler Tim Southee (Rajasthan Royals, $NZ230,000), allrounder Jimmy Neesham (Delhi Daredevils, $NZ195,000) and Canterbury seamer Matt Henry (Chennai Super Kings, $NZ58,000).
There was less reason to cheer for 16 other New Zealand players who didn't attract a bid.
Among them was prolific six-season IPL batsman Ross Taylor, who earned a $US1 million ($NZ1.2 million) bid from Rajasthan three years ago.
Perhaps less surprising was the lack of interest in Ryder, the gifted left-handed batsman who has been picked for four previous IPL seasons.
He had scored the fast runs needed in his return to international cricket this summer to attract a hefty sum.
Instead, he was passed over, probably paying the price for the sort of off-field misbehaviour that has marred his career.
When Ryder was dropped by the Black Caps for this week's second Test against India, the timing couldn't be worse as IPL coaches - including New Zealanders John Wright (Mumbai), Stephen Fleming (Chennai) and Daniel Vettori (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - refined their preferred candidates.
Other Kiwis to miss out included proven performers such as Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills and Luke Ronchi.
Under IPL auction rules, certain unsold players selected by the franchises will go under the hammer again.
