DAY 6, 7 & 8: National Under 17 Championships

Scores at the end of play Day 7, 21st January 2009, 2nd day of two-day games.

Canterbury take an unassailable lead in the tournament winning convincingly against Auckland and once again showing their dominance.

Auckland vs Canterbury

Canterbury; 369-7 (T Latham 93, J Richards 77, C McConchie 52, J Presland 2-32, J Morris 2-69) and 46/1 (T Latham 22 no, C McConchie 20 no, J Morris 1-27) beat Auckland; 138-9 (I Sohhi 24, T Ellis 23, C Fletcher 23, E Nuttall 2-24, M Henry 2-31) and 102 (H Blackwell 31, T Ellis 17, M Henry 3-15, C McConchie 2-12, T Walsh 2-24)

Auckland never recovered from their overnight 28-3 and made the decision to declare at 138-9 with the hope that Canterbury would leave them a target to chase. Ish Sodi top scored with 24 from 21 balls as the lower middle order all contributed to take Auckland from 71 -6 at one stage. The Canterbury bowlers all got wickets with Edward Nuttall and Matt Henry taking two wickets each. Canterbury quickly made 46 for the loss of 1 wicket to leave Auckland to score 278 to win. Auckland lost outright by 175 runs never looking like getting anywhere near the target set by Canterbury. Only 3 Auckland batters made double figures with Henry Blackwell top scoring with 31. The Canterbury bowlers again shared the wickets with Matt Henry returning 3-15, Cole McConchie 2-12 and Tom Wlash 2-24 to help Canterbury gain first innings points and an outright win by 175 runs.

Central Districts vs Otago

Otago; 242 (C McMeeken 76, L Edwards 54, T Haggas 5-64, B Wheeler 2-24) and 47/1 (D Dukes 38 no, D Lubbe 1-25) to Central Districts; 241 (B Wheeler 79, I West 43, T Richards 38, C Ware 4-71, S Kruger 2-34)

CD fell just 1 run short of the Otago total despite a valiant effort from the CD tail ender’s with the last 2 wickets adding 48 runs. Ben Wheeler top scored for CD with a defiant 79 of 168 balls and Ihaia West chipping in with 43. The pick of the Otago bowlers was Chris Ware with 4-71 including the last wicket giving Otago 1^st innings points. Otago batted for half an hour before the game was called off. Daniel Dukes made the most of the 30 minutes scoring a rapid 38 not out of 25 balls, Driaan Lubbe 1-25.

Wellington v Northern Districts

Northern Districts; 167 (M Gurrey 47, A Vodnala 20, T Gibson 4-45, H Kyne 2-15, M Taylor 2-23) and 172-/7 (T Beehre 32, M Gurry 31, L Boydajian 2-50, H Wright 2-54) to Wellington; 72 (J Joseph 17, R Darkins 9-32) and 268/6 (N Ward 100, S Lawson 53 no, J Wilkinson 2-43, R Darkins 2-71)

In order to set up a game Northern Districts scored 172 of just 37 over’s leaving Wellington 268 to win of 71 over’s in the end. Todd Beehre top scoring with 32 and Luke Boydajian finishing with the best figures of 2-50.Chasing 268 at just over 4 an over Wellington scored the winning runs with 1 ball to spare and 4 wickets in hand. Nick Ward leading the way with a century and Matt Taylor scoring an unbeaten 53 to take Wellington to victory. At 183-5 Wellington looked to be struggling before a 73 run 6^th wicket partnership between Lawson and Josh Joseph (35) took them within sight of the winning mark. ND taking first innings points but Wellington winning outright by 4 wickets.

Table after round 4 day 6 21^st January 2009

Day 6

A stunning tally of nine wickets for 32 runs by Northern Districts' Rory Darkins was the highlight of day six of the national under 17 tournament: the first day of a round of two-day games.

ND crushed Wellington in the first innings of their match, with Darkins 9-32 driving Wellington to a miserable 72 in reply to ND's first innings167.

Canterbury was strongly positioned against Auckland in their match, thanks to a powerful display with the bat carrying them to 369-7 declared. The match between Central Districts and Otago was finely balanced at the end of the day's play.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Canterbury amassed the highest score of the tournament with 369 for 7 declared. Thomas Latham opened the innings and continued his fine form with 93 off 94 balls, sharing an opening partnership of 139 with James Richards (77). The good work continued with Canterbury reaching 286 before losing their fourth wicket. Cole McConchie scored a stubborn 50 off 102 balls and Henry Nicholls remained unbeaten on 42 when the declaration was made.

After a long day in the field, Auckland made a disastrous start to their run chase, slumping to 22-3 at the close of play.

Otago struggled early at 19-2 but fought back to post a competitive 242. Ciaran McMeeken top scored with a very patient 76 from 184 balls sharing a 5th wicket partnership of 93 with Liam Edwards (54). Ted Haggas continued his good tournament form with a fine return of 5-64 of 22 over’s with Ben Wheeler taking 2-24 in support.

Central Districts made an excellent start in reply, scoring 62 for the loss of 1 wicket in the remaining 19 over’s of the day. The two not out batsman, both from Hawke’s Bay, Ihaia West (27 no) and Sam McConville (17no) will be looking to build on their innings tomorrow and take CD to 1st innings points.

Northern Districts were rueing their decision to bat having won the toss when they found themselves 67-6 early in the day. Some determined lower order batting rescued them, with.Mathew Gurrey top-scoring on 47, supported by Ash Vodnala 20. The last four ND batsmen all reached double figures to help add over 100 for the last four wickets. The pick of the Wellington bowlers was Tom Gibson with 4-45 and H Kyne 2-15.

In reply, Wellington was torn apart by the bowling of Rory Darkins. In the stand-out bowling performance of the tournament he claimed 9-32 off 18.3 overs to see Wellington tuble to a dismal first-innings total of just 72. Only three players reached double figures for Wellington with Josh Joseph top scoring with 17.

Table after round three, day five and completion of 1st 1-day game:

19th January 2009