Black Caps hero Grant Elliott will miss little sister's wedding

Dan Plews and Kate Elliott are getting married on Saturday but her brother has another weekend engagement. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Dates are scarce at Waiheke's Mudbrick Vineyard, so Kate Elliott and fiance Daniel Plews had to take a punt more than a year ago when they settled on March 28, 2015 for their wedding day.

Yes, it was the day before the Cricket World Cup final. And, yes, Kate's brother Grant was an international cricketer.

But for Grant Elliott, 35 at the time, his Black Caps days were behind him and, well, it's not like New Zealand had ever made a World Cup final.

"As soon as that ball started flying I just screamed," said Kate of the moment her brother launched a Dale Steyn delivery into the Eden Park stands for a match-winning six that simultaneously sent his adopted country into jubilant hysteria and consigned the country of his birth to a crushingly painful defeat.

"I literally leaped off the seat. Mum and dad went and hugged the security guard. About 30 seconds later I just started crying."

She cried because the incredible shot completed a run of events that about a year earlier had seemed utterly implausible. She cried because it meant her brother would be getting on a plane to Melbourne instead of a ferry to Waiheke.

"It was mixed emotions; he won't be able to see us on the day and we are such a close family," she said. "But I saw his face on the big screen again and he just had the biggest smile."

For Grant Elliott, the six completed a remarkable journey from discard to a national hero. For Kate Elliott it meant there would be an empty chair at her wedding.

"For all those planets to align, for him to make the team and for the team to make the final, it was a long shot," said Mr Plews, a physiologist who works with the country's top rowers at High Performance Sport NZ.

But the planets kept aligning, first through Elliott's superb form for Wellington then a shock recall ahead of the tournament through to the Black Caps' unbeaten run. The husband- and wife-to-be were anxious their wedding not be a distraction. Mr Plews messaged Elliott before the semifinal saying "smash the hell out of it".

For Grant Elliott, the six completed a remarkable journey from discard to a national hero. Photo / Brett Phibbs

"From the beginning I said if you can reach your dream that would be incredible," said Kate. "I'll be happy for you."

She pretty much came to terms with the fact that one of the two older brothers she grew up playing backyard cricket with in Johannesburg would not be making her big day. A marketing manager with the champion Breakers basketball club, Kate is used to seeing winners in action. "There was a moment, I think it was with 16 runs required, I saw his face on the big screen," she said. "He just looked so incredibly happy. I saw it in his eyes and you just knew - he is going to do it. He is not coming to the wedding so let's just enjoy this moment."

The extended Elliott family held a brief reunion yesterday before Tuesday's hero flew to Melbourne with the Black Caps. Kate Elliott spent the afternoon transporting wedding paraphernalia over to Waiheke for her big day, which will go ahead with one small change - Sunday's beach barbecue will be moved indoors to somewhere with a television.

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