James Neesham, the New Zealand allrounder, hit 75 not out off 30 balls on his Northamptonshire debut on Wednesday night in the Vitality Blast but has revealed that he had woken up in France on the morning of the game.Neesham flew to the UK from India with his compatriot and Rajasthan Royals team-mate Trent Boult on Monday but a complication with his visa saw him make the short journey to Paris in order to sort out his paperwork before he returned to Northampton a few hours before their fixture against Leicestershire at Wantage Road.”I actually mucked my visa up a little bit, so I had to fly to Paris after I got here,” Neesham told Northamptonshire’s YouTube channel, SteelbacksTV. “I woke up this morning and had an [cheese omelette] in Paris, then hopped on a plane and landed at about midday.Related
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“I got a bit of sleep and then came to the ground. I was thinking if I could get through three or four overs and have no injuries and have a bit of a hit, I’d be pretty happy.”Instead, Neesham hit five fours and six sixes, sharing an unbroken partnership of 118 off 53 balls with Chris Lynn, who made 106 not out. With the ball, he then took 2 for 26 from his three overs and Northants defended their 227 for 1 with ease.”When you come into a new team, you want to prove your worth in the first couple of games,” Neesham said. “I’ve been watching from afar and Lynny’s done that already so far in the tournament. So it’s just a real pleasure to come out and, first of all, get the win, and spend a bit of time with one of my mates out in the middle and have a good time.