Central Districts, Otago and Auckland took two first innings points after all matches in the three-day round of the National Under 23 Tournament ended in draws.
The match between Otago and Wellington was the most enthralling with both teams going into the final session with the chance of an outright win. At 238 for four in pursuit of 320 the Otago batsmen fancied their chances and accelerated the scoring. However, Wellington fought back with a string of wickets, including three with the Otago score on 262, and changed the momentum leaving the Otago tail clinging on for the draw.
Seven centuries were scored across the three matches with Auckland captain Andrew de Boorder’s 162 against Canterbury the best. There standout bowling performance came from Wellington’s Niranjan Naguleswaran who took 4-77 and 4-81 in the match against Otago.
It is a rest day tomorrow with the a round of 50-over matches starting on Friday 28 January.
Northern Districts U23 v Central Districts U23
Toss: Northern Districts 23s, who decided to bowl
Result: Match Drawn, first innings points to Central Districts
Central Districts 303 (Ben Smith 84, Seth Rance 94*; Brett Hampton 4-58) & 359 (Dean Robinson 58; Carl Cachopa 48; Jono Boult 3-73) drew with Northern Districts 296 (Michael Dodunski 107, Daryl Mitchell 105; Jeremy Kuru 3-71)
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1071/scorecard.aspx
Otago U23 v Wellington U23
Toss: Otago U23s, who decided to bowl
Result: Match drawn, first innings points to Otago
Wellington 321 (Stephen Murdoch 74, Chris Tait 54, Harry Wright 52; Jacob Duffy 4-43)& 353-6 dec(Stephen Murdoch 156, Niranjan Naguleswaran 51, Fraser Colson 52, Barry Rhodes 55) drew with Otago 355(Mark Craig 146*, Geordie Scott 61; Niranjan Naguleswaran 4-77)Otago 288-8(Jesse Simpson 87, Hamish Rutherford 76, Andy Dodd 53; Niranjan Naguleswaran 4-81)
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1072/scorecard.aspx
Auckland U23 v Canterbury U23
Toss: Auckland U23s who decided to bowl
Result: Match drawn, first innings points to Auckland
Canterbury 417-7 dec (Tom Latham 51, Henry Nicholls 116, Brandon Hiini 107; Dean Bartlett 3-72, Jimmy Neesham 3-110) & 269-5 (Tom Latham 56, Corey Anderson 60) drew with Auckland(Andrew de Boorder 162, Craig Cachopa 72, Brad Cachopa 145)
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1070/scorecard.aspx
Points:
Auckland - 2
Central Districts - 2
Otago - 2
Canterbury - 0
Wellington - 0
Northern Districts - 0
