Otago edge past Northern, Auckland beat Wellington
Central Districts beat second placed Canterbury in a tight 50-over fixture at the National Under 18 Tournament at Lincoln today to move seven points clear of the field.
Central opener Jackson Braddock-Pajo hit 41 at the top of the order and James McDougall stuck 50 in the middle to set a solid platform for the lower order. Noteworthy late contributions from Arana Noema-Barnett (36) and John Dickson (35) helped Central through to 233 for eight. Canterbury bowler Hamish Robertson impressed with the ball to claim figures of three for 38 from ten overs. Ken McClure gave Canterbury a decent chance with an unbeaten 85, but Central’s death bowling was too good and Canterbury fell seven runs short of victory with 227 for seven.
Otago made 238 for seven off 49.5 overs to sneak past the Northern Districts total of 237 for four. The three wicket win was set up by captain Gregor Croudis who made 53 at the top of the order and Ben Willemsen who struck 72 while Jacob Duffy cracked 27 off just 16 to get them across the line. Earlier, Northern middle order batsmen Anish Desai (46), Scott Tallott (41*) and Tim Seifert (40*) all made useful contributions.
Auckland captain Ben Horne produced the best innings of the day, striking 98 not out as his team made 186 for five in pursuit of Wellington’s 185 all out. He can thank his bowlers for the modest run chase with Jordan Sussex collecting three for 17 and Mark Chapman three for 26. Sam le Gros was the best of the batsmen for Wellington with 72 while Will Brunton bowled well for Wellington taking three of the five wickets to fall and conceding just 27 runs from ten overs. -
Canterbury v Central Districts – http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1353/scorecard.aspx
Northern Districts v Otago - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1356/scorecard.aspx
Auckland v Wellington - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1354/scorecard.aspx
Points
Central Districts – 20
Canterbury – 13
Otago – 12
Auckland – 11
Wellington – 8
Northern Districts – 2
