KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders Jesse Ryder and Kyle Mills secured Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket contracts at the second overseas player auction last night.
Ryder was sold for US$160,000 ($318,280) to the Bangalore Royal Challengers and will join New Zealand teammate Ross Taylor and England star Kevin Pietersen, who earlier sold for a record US$1.55 million, matching his teammate Andrew Flintoff (Chennai).
Ryder's base price was US$100,000, and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming's Chennai Super Kings raised the bid to US$150,000 before Bangalore upped the bid by US$10,000 to secure him.
Sidelined with a shoulder injury, Ryder hopes to be fit for the Indian tour of New Zealand starting this month.
Mills soon followed and will join the Mumbai Indians for his base price of US$150,000. Mumbai were the only side to bid for the senior New Zealand paceman.
The other New Zealander on offer, allrounder James Franklin, who set his base price at US$50,000 attracted no bids.
Ryder and Mills will join Taylor, Fleming, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris in the second edition of the IPL in April.
- NZPA
