Defending NZC Gillette Venus Under 19 champion Wellington Under 19 has completed a clean sweep of the one-day section of this summer's tournament - putting them in pole of a potential title defence.
The top age-group tier for young Kiwi women features a mix of both 50-over one-day and T20 contests played across the clutch week at NZC's High Performance Centre, with the four rounds of one-day contests worth four points per win, followed by three rounds of T20s where each win earns three points.
Wellington was the only team to go through the one-day section unbeaten for a haul of 16 points, but that's just one point ahead of the strong Auckland Under 19 representatives - who won three of their four one-day games, but won well enough to also pocket three invaluable bonus points for winning by a significant margin.
Behind the two frontunners, Central Districts U19 and Otago U19 had an even split of two wins and two losses - and each team picking up a bonus point on one occasion to be deadlocked on nine points in the middle of the table.
Northern Districts Under 19 completed the 50-over phase with one win to hold fifth spot over hosts Canterbury Under 19 who would be looking for their first W in the T20s.
ROUND ONE
Auckland Under 19's bowling attack made a big statement to open the tournament on a strong note - Anika Todd taking a sizzling 4/6 off her five overs and, incredibly, teammate Sophie Court topping that with a haul of 4/1 off her three overs! Combined, they made short work of defending Auckland's first-up total of 209, pasted on the board in the first innings after ND U19 had sent them in. ND dismissed the Aucklanders in the last over, Dayle Anderson getting her personal tournament off to a flier with the first bag at Nationals: 5/23 off her seven. Kate Irwin and Brooke James had countered with half centuries but ND's biggest problem would be their own batting, six batters dismissed without scoring in a hard loss they would need to write off quickly. Their innings on Bert Sutcliffe Oval had spanned just 11.1 overs.
In the other matches, Central Districts also looked in trouble with the bat early but were saved by a rearguard partnership of 59 between Sophie Campbell and Abby Treder, Campbell batting to the end of the innings to make sure CD had a defendable total. Louisa Kotkamp had led the way for Otago with the ball with 4/36, and she herself would be a rearguard top-scorer with a fighing knock of 41 at nine. Cara Hollard had a top day for CD with a haul of 4/24 that made sure CD got on top early, and that tit-for-tat was enough to set up an ultimately comfortable win.
Wellington also won their game on Lincoln Green by a respectable margin but they were made to work for it after the top/middle order came under early pressure after having been sent in. It wasn't the easiest day for batting in any of the matches after the tailend of a wet weather system, but Wellington was able to set Canterbury a fair target of 240, then made a great start with the ball to have their hosts 101/5. Canterbury Magicians rep Izzy Sharp played a lone hand of 89 off 77 balls but her class wasn't enough to save Canterbury on this occasion.
• Wellington Under 19 239/8 defeated Canterbury Under 19 200 by 39 runs
• Central Districts Under 19 207 defeated Otago Under 19 180 by 27 runs
• Auckland Under 19 209 defeated Northern Districts 19 by 190 runs
ROUND TWO
Otago rebounded to notch their first win of the week with a handsome win on Lincoln Green, Isy Parry starring in the chase with an unbeaten century: 103 not out off 117 balls. Her partnerships with Hannah Wilson (30) and Chloe Deerness (an unbeaten 50*) saw her side chase down their target in just the 38th over, after having earlied dismissed ND for 199 on the last ball of the first innings. Deerness, with 3/20, had enjoyed an excellent all-round day.
On the centre stage of Bert Sutcliffe Oval CD captain Emma McLeod meanwhile led from the front with a top score of 62 not out as Central chased down 174 with just over 15 overs to spare. Earlier, Taranaki's Cara Hollard was again in the wickets with 3/41 as Canterbury struggled to get momentum across key part of the innings, and now without the talents of Izzy Sharp who had been called into the Magicians.
The tightest match of the day was between the two big city teams, a hard-fought clash in which Wellington was rolled in the 45th over but then returned serve by bowling Auckland out in their 31st, Rachel Bryant enjoying a good all-round day after top-scoring in the first innings with a fighting 37 and then claiming a catch and 3/45 in the field.
• Central Districts Under 19 175/6 defeated Canterbury Under 19 173 by four wickets
• Wellington Under 19 158 defeated Auckland Under 19 148 by 10 runs
• Otago Under 19 202/2 defeated Northern Districts Under 19 199 by 8 wickets
ROUND THREE
The last day before a rest day, and all the teams were fired up to make it a good one to end the first 'section' of play on a psychologically strong note.
Wellington would keep their report card perfect as they chalked up their third win on the bounce, no Mondayitis here as they closed out a tight win against feisty CD. Bowling first, CD had dismissed Wellington inside 42 overs, the wickets shared right around the six-prong attack while Esme Olney-Boyd fought for the top score of 40 in the middle order. Wellington had to start well with the ball and they did exactly that, but CD captain Emma McLeod have her side a fighting chance with a run-a-ball 46 at first drop. She shared a promising fourth-wicket stand with Abby Treder but her loss at 88/4 was a turning point. Rachel Bryant (4/32) mopped up and CD found themselves just 10 runs short when they were bowled out in the 41st over.
Canterbury was meanwhile still hunting for their first win, but had a tough time responding to ND's 216/9 after ND had won the toss and batted. ND's batting order had also struggled for traction, with Jessie Canty's brilliant unbeaten 83* at four pivotal to her side's total. Canty batted for almost two and a half hours to give her team a score. It would prove more than enough, however, when ND turned around and rolled their hosts for just 75, with Dayle Anderson and Catherine Hardie both picking up three-fors.
Canterbury wasn't alone in having a tough day at the crease: Otago also struggled in their chase, against an Auckland side that was proving to be one of the teams to watch. Losing by 245 was a hard pill to swallow, but credit is due to the Aucklanders who were ruthless in their execution. Batting first, opener Anika Todd continued her good personal form despite the horror of being run out on 99. Kate Irwin was also again in the runs and produced a wonderful century batting at five: 120 off 109 balls, including 17 boundaries. Otago couldn't get going in reply, and Anika Tauwhare capped off a good day for the Aucklanders with her haul of 4/13 off six overs of sizzle.
• Northern Districts Under 19 216/9 defeated Canterbury Under 19 75 by 141 runs
• Wellington Under 19 177 defeated Central Districts Under 19 159 by 18 runs
• Auckland Under 19 308/6 defeated Otago Under 19 63 by 245 runs
ROUND FOUR
After a rest day, all the teams returned to the middle for the last one-day round before the three T20s. Defending champion Wellington was by now on a roll, and kept their unbeaten status intact - but only just. They faced a big challange from ND who restricted them to 182 in 44 overs after Wellington had elected to bat, Brittany Jenkins on fire for Northern with a five-wicket bag: a superb haul of 5/10 off seven overs. Three of those wickets came in the space of four balls in the 43rd over, capitalising on the excellent pressure she had helped to build. Northern was sharp in the field, too, with a couple of big runouts and at the halftime break would have been hopeful of upsetting the tournament leaders. But Wellington was disciplined with the ball, and sharp in the field as they defended with energy. The match was still hanging in the balance even in the last over, as Northern kept turning over the strike searching urgently for the 14 runs they needed off it. But the boundaries they needed were elusive, and Wellington effectively made the match theirs on the penultimate ball of the match.
CD batted first on Lincoln Green, but also found the going tough against the rampant Aucklanders. Legspinner Rishika Jaswal had a good day with 4/30 as her side restricted CD to 159 in the 46th over, which was not going to be enough for Central after the Auckland top order got going. Elizabeth Buchanan (39), Kate Irwin (32) and Jaswal (an unbeaten 35) all contributed to a comfortable chase for Auckland, getting across the line inside 30 overs for another valuable bonus point win.
Meanwhile a southern derby was going on across at the Lincoln No.3 ground, where Otago had enjoyed a decent start after opting to bat first. Hannah Wilson and Isy Parry put on 92 for the first wicket, but after the partnership was broken - both batters falling in the space of three balls, Otago had to start again. Canterbury made great strides with the ball through the middle, keeping things tight and picking up regular wickets. Things were finally looking up for the Cantabrians until Louisa Kotkamp again provided a key late knock with a much needed 32 off 41 balls for her side down the order. Canterbury's number four Eloise Borcoski top-scored at four in response with 54 off 103 balls, having to do the hard yakka for her side as she kept losing partners. in the 48th over, she became the final wicket to fall, and her side was still 39 runs adrift. Chloe Deerness (3/35) and Molly Mason Gelletly (3/20 off 5.1) led the way as Otago closed it out.
• Auckland Under 19 160/5 defeated Central Districts Under 19 159 by five wickets
• Otago Under 19 196 defeated Canterbury Under 19 157 by 39 runs
• Wellington Under 19 182 defeated Northern Districts 177/8 by five runs
