2022/23 NZC Gillette Venus Women's Under 19 Tournament - Day Five
The T20s began with four of the six teams still in contention for the Gillette Venus Under 19 Women's national trophy in Lincoln. Who would stay in the running after the exciting first two T20 rounds?
After the four days of one-day matches, Wellington and Canterbury had headed into the short format both on 14 points, Auckland on 13 and defending champion Central Districts on 10, all still in contention with three points up for grabs for each T20 win.
Playing for pride, luckless Northern Districts was meanwhile keen to get their first win and avoid the wooden spoon while Otago was looking for a second win for the week.
• ROUND FIVE
Bert Sutcliffe Oval
Central Districts U19 beat ND U19 by 5 wickets
Auckland U19 beat Otago U19 by 8 wickets
Lincoln Green
Wellington U19 beat Canterbury U19 by 8 wickets
The livestreamed match on Bert Sutcliffe Oval pitted the Districts against each other, CD captain Jessie Hollard deciding to bowl first in the windy conditions. Her opposing skipper Tash Wakelin put in a great shift at the top for her side with an unbeaten 70* off 61 balls, including nine boundaries and a six.
She carried her bat to get a good total of 119/4 on the board. Even with a huge breakthrough first ball of the reply - Hollard departing for a royal duck, caught off Brittany Jenkins, it proved too light to stop CD's strong middle order.
Quick and lively, Emma McLeod kept her side on track with a fast 34 until she was run out attempting a third run, a great piece of awareness from Megan Pearson who had meanwhile also picked up an early wicket in Vanessa Taylor.
McLeod had put on 57 with the powerful Abby Treder who went on to bring the chase under firm control with a half century off 42 balls, CD chasing down a five-wicket win with 4.1 overs to spare.
ABBY TREDER | PHOTOSPORT
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That win kept CD's hopes of a title defence alive, but they were not in control of their own destiny. The same couldn't be said for Wellington who were very much in charge as they took an outright lead on the points table, while former frontrunners Canterbury stumbled in the first T20 match for their second loss in two days.
It was a big match between the two top teams on Lincoln Green with Canterbury U19 captain Izzy Sharp winning the toss and keen to bat first again. But both openers departed inside the first five overs as Wellington made a good start with the ball, despite Sharp pumping her first six.
Hannah Francis (2-15) and Anya Birmingham stepped up with the ball with some tight overs. But Canterbury fought back through the middle stages, Joey Hull (a run-a-ball 53) and Harriet Graham (35 off 31) piling on an 81-stand for the third wicket, helping Canterbury reach 124/6 after a couple of late wickets to Kate Chandler.
Wellington was helped in the reply by 25 extras conceded by Canterbury, the wind certainly not helping - although it was doing its bit to hold up catches across the three games. Opener Antonia Hamilton top-scored with 39, Chandler chipped in an unbeaten 36* and Wellington got home for an important victory with 4.2 overs and 8 wickets in hand.
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Auckland and Otago were scheduled to play each other back-to-back on Day Five with Auckland taking out 'round one' with a comfortable eight-wicket victory on Lincoln No.3.
Otago won the toss and batted but it was a tough assignment against Auckland's strong attack, and the southerners were bowled out for 73 with an over and a half unutilised.
Kate Irwin impressed with a tidy 3-8 off her 3.3 overs, and after picking up another two wickets herself, Rishika Jaswal opened the batting and calmly steered her team to victory with a quick unbeaten 33*, Irwin chiming in with 25 not out as Auckland won by eight wickets with almost half the innings to spare.
The results after round five left all four contenders - Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury and CD - still alive in the title race, but with Canterbury and CD now in the danger zone, needing to win both their remaining matches as well as other team results to fall their way.
• ROUND SIX
Canterbury U19 lost to ND U19 by 7 wickets
Central Districts U19 beat Wellington U19 by 19 runs
Lincoln Green
Otago U19 beat Auckland U19 by four runs on the last ball
A dramatic afternoon saw some big upsets, with big implications for the tight points table.
Auckland U19 could have stormed into the outright lead with a six off the last ball against Otago U19 in a thriller on Lincoln Green but, after Auckland had taken 10 so far off the last over, Otago's Isabel Parry dotted down with her last delivery to deny Auckland the win.
It was a brilliant four-run win for Otago who had defended their 148/3 after deciding to bat first. Parry (67 not out off 43 balls) and Chloe Deerness (40) had led the way for their team with the bat, then Parry and Louisa Kotkamp made a tight start with the ball in the still windy conditions.
Extras were a problem for a number of bowlers as the wind buffered them, but spare a thought for Zarah Moana who needed 18 deliveries to get through the seventh over.
It helped Auckland, but not enough as Moana also picked up her second wicket in the process. Hannah O'Connor was the next to make a double breakthrough, bringing Auckland's Irwin sisters, Emma and Kate, together in the middle.
Kotkamp struck twice in three deliveries in the 17th to set the scene for a nailbiting finish as Auckland found themselves 113/7 with three to go. Deerness struck in the 18th and Auckland ultimately needed 15 off the last over. They gave it a good nudge, needing a six to win off the last delivery before Parry saved the day and secured an exciting upset for her team, just Otago's second of the week.
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ND had headed into this round yet to get a victory after five rounds, but it was lucky number six for Tash Wakelin and her team as they upset Canterbury, who meanwhile stumbled to a third consecutive loss - after having been the unbeaten early leaders.
Wakelin had won the toss and put Canterbury in, and Canterbury responded with a good total of 141/3 in their 20 overs - opener Maggie Martin top-scoring with 35 and Harriet Graham unbeaten after a lively 33*.
Their total was boosted by 30 extras but, just as Otago had done, ND overcame those hurdles to go on to a brilliant win.
Wakelin continued her good form at the top for her team all week with a top score of 55 off just 39 balls to set up the chase, taking her team through to 90/2 in the 13th over. Then Amelia Harvey stepped up to smash 30 not out off just 20 balls in a 50-run stand with Amy Brown, ND winning with 1.4 overs to spare - their first victory at the tournament.
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The match between current leader Wellington and defending champion Central Districts was also a high pressure affair, with CD needing to win to stay alive. A Wellington victory would have meanwhile secured the trophy with a round to spare, but CD was having none of that scenario.
Sent in, Manawatu's Abby Treder shone for the second time on the penultimate day, backing up her half century in the morning game with 46 off 37 in the afternoon.
She ensured CD overcame a rocky start and, despite regular breakthroughs from the Wellington attack, the side got through their 20 overs to reach a competitive total of 142/7, again helped along by 18 extras in the wind.
Needing just over seven per over, Wellington had the batting capability to chase that down, but Central produced a fairly tight performance in the field and with the ball, and made three big runouts to stop partnerships from flourishing at key times.
Kate Chandler again top-scored for her team with a run-a-ball 33 but was one of those big wickets, and some tight overs from Charlotte Stent and Grace Foreman escalated the pressure.
Wellington couldn't get enough runs through the death overs to put the heat back on CD who won comfortably in the end, by 19 runs, and elevated themselves to second on the table, now just one point behind Wellington.
Tomorrow's decisive round begins at 10am and will see Wellington play ND, CD play Otago, and Auckland play Canterbury in three loaded games.
