Central Districts and Wellington remain unbeaten after one three-day and two 50-over rounds of the National Under 23 Tournament in Lincoln near Christchurch.
Today, in the second 50-over round, Central bundled out Auckland for 245 in 45.5 overs before reaching 247 for eight in a rain reduced 46 over match. Jeremy Kuru was chief destroyer for Central taking four for 29 with Sam Anderson’s 48 the best for Auckland. The Central chase was set up by opener Dean Robinson who struck 56 and finished off by Andrew Mason who smashed 18 off four deliveries.
Wellington’s victory was somewhat easier as they made 271 for 9 batting first against Canterbury and then bowling them out for 194 in 39.1 overs. The top three batsmen all hit half centuries for Wellington with first drop Fraser Colson’s 69 the best. Canterbury opener Joel Abraham was the only member of his team to make an impact with 77 while Wellington’s Malaesaili Tugaga was the best bowler on display with four for 29.
The most closely contested match was between Northern Districts and Otago. Middle order batsmen Tamati Clarke and Jono Hickey hit 73 and 78 respectively to propel Northern Districts through to 291 for six. The Otago batsmen ruthlessly attacked the target, reaching 294 for four with 9.3 overs to spare. Opener Hamish Rutherford got his side off to a flyer with 48 off 28 ball with his opening partner Ryan Duffy making 62 and fellow top order batsmen Andy Dodd striking 75. However, it was Jacob Fuller who stole the show with a hard hit 62 not out off just 24 balls to guide Otago to a comfortable win.
Northern Districts U23 v Otago U23
Toss: Otago won the toss and elected to bowl
Result: Otago won by 6 wickets
Northern Districts 291-6 (Michael Dodunski 66, Tamati Clarke 73, Jono Hickey 78) lost to Otago 294-4(Hamish Rutherford 48, Ryan Duffy 62, Andy Dodd 75, Jacob Fuller 62; Jono Boult 2-53)
Full scorecard:
http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1082/scorecard.aspx
Auckland U23 v Central Districts U23
Toss: Auckland who elected to bat
Result: Central Districts won by 2 wickets
Auckland 245 all out (Sam Anderson 48, Craig Cachopa 40, Brad Schmulian 37*; Jeremy Kuru 4-29) lost to Central Districts 247-8(Dean Robinson 56, Carl Cachopa 41, David Meiring 45; Bhupinder Singh 2-45)
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1083/scorecard.aspx
Canterbury U23 v Wellington U23
Toss: Wellington won the toss and elected to bat
Result: Wellington won by 77 runs
Wellington 271-9 (Niranjan Naguleswaran 58, Michael Pollard 68, Fraser Colson 69; Tim Johnston 3-36, Theo van Weorkom 3-53) beat Canterbury 194 all out (Joel Abraham 77; Malaesaili Tugaga 4-29; Niranjan Naguleswaran 3-37)
Full scorecard: http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1081/scorecard.aspx
Points:
Central Districts – 10
Wellington – 9
Otago – 6
Northern Districts - 4
Auckland - 2
Canterbury - 0
