Wellington Under 19 has taken out the NZC Gillette Under 19 Men's Nationals in style, finishing with a high-scoring, 43-run T20 win over previous champion Central Districts this morning to go undefeated through this year's Nationals.
It's the Wellington men's first title at this level since 2017/18 and means the capital is now home to both the men's and women's national Under 19 trophies this season, emulating Central Districts' double act at this level last summer. Wellington's women were first-time winners of the Gillette Venus trophy.
Wellington Under 19 Men posted an impressive 191 for nine in their 20 overs this afternoon, after winning the toss for the final T20 with an eye on remaining undefeated.
Peter Bonar top-scored with 48 in a strong team effort while Central Districts first drop Sam Cassidy (57 off 36) scored a half century in a gutsy reply - enough to pip Wellington batting star Muhammad Abbas as the top run-scorer at Nationals this year.
Cassidy finished with 292 runs from six innings at a 58.60 average, including 30 boundaries and 11 sixes at a 107.78 strike rate. Abbas claimed second spot with 255 runs and a cracking average of 85.00 (the highest at the tournament) after his two unbeaten one-day centuries, and finished with 31 boundaries and seven sixes at a strike rate of 125.62.
Also scoring more than 200 runs across the two white-ball formats was Central Districts' Bayley Latter (212 runs at 35.33), Auckland's Jamal Todd (209 runs at 41.80) and Canterbury's Devon Flannery with 205 runs at 41.00.
The top wicket-taker at the Gillette Nationals was Wellington skipper and spinner Kevin Weerasundara (above) who finished with 12 from six innings at 15.58, with a best of 5-38. The only other player to take a bag during the week was CD's left-arm spinner Liam Carr with 5-32 on the same afternoon.
Weerasundara's teammate Yash Singh-Kalsi finished next highest to Weerasundara in the wickets column with 10 at 12.60, and a best of 4-40, with CD's Josh Fairbrother, Otago's Zac Cumming and Auckland's Aaryan Prasad all picking up nine for the tournament.
Auckland's Neil Patel took out the wicketkeeping honours with four catches and three stumpings, followed by CD's Logan Ryniker-Doull, the Hawke's Bay keeper-batter making four stumpings to go with his two catches.
There was also consolation for Otago Under 19 on the the final day, picking up their first win with a six-run thriller off the last ball of the tournament.
Auckland had needed six off the last delivery to win, but Otago captain Thomas O'Connor instead had Daniel Presland caught by Zac Cumming, ending number four batter Presland's run-a-ball 35.
Northern Districts Under 19 also finished on a winning note, beating Canterbury by 16 runs.
Final standings (combined one-day and T20 tables, after 7 rounds):
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- Wellington 23 points (5 wins, 2 washouts)
- Canterbury 15 points
- Auckland 12 points
- Northern Districts 11 points
- Central Districts 10 points
- Otago 6 points
