2023/24 NZC GILLETTE U19 MEN'S TOURNAMENT
Round Four • Wednesday, 6 December 2023
Auckland U19 defeated Northern Districts U19 by 191 runs - SCORECARD
Wellington U19 defeated Canterbury U19 by 11 runs - SCORECARD
Otago U19 defeated Central Districts U19 by 135 runs - SCORECARD
With Auckland locking in a Finals berth in this round, and Wellington and Otago now chasing the remaining spot, the strongest teams had put their hand up early at this year's nationals.
Auckland has enjoyed a strong tournament as the enervating wind continued to blow, and a number of players who had performed well in last year's tournament were back for more.
During the winter, some of these men had already represented New Zealand Under 19 - the national team played in and won the ICC Under 19 Men's Cricket World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifier in order to ink in a berth in the next U19 World Cup (having missed the previous two-yearly edition, and therefore automatic qualification for the next tournament, due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Prolific Wellington U19 opener Will Julian, teammate and allrounder Ollie Tewatiya, ND keeper Sam Clode, Auckland leg-spinner Rahman Hekmat, Auckland batters Tom Jones and Josh Olliver and NZ's captain during the winter tour, Oscar Jackson (captain of Wellington U19) are just some of that 2023 NZ U19 crop appearing in the current national tournament.
WELLINGTON U19 v CANTERBURY U19
Wellington opener Henry Christie has had an impressive tournament, ending the day in the top two runscorers across the board with 331 scored from the four games. He got his team off to a sound start again on Lincoln Green with a knock of 51 at better than run-a-ball, but it was opening partner Will Julian's turn in the sun as he went on from their 83-run opening stand to reach 98. Julian batted into the 38th over as Canterbury found the Wellington top order a tough nut to crack, Julian putting on 143 with Alex Thompson (58) for the second wicket. Chris Ellison burst through with three wickets in two overs, preventing Julian from reaching three figures. Wellington captain Oscar Jackson had elected to bat, and he was able to sit back an enjoy most of the show from the pavilion as his side did the business. Dylan McArdle added value by blasting a quick unbeaten 38 at six, and Canterbury was staring at a chase of 300 exactly after lunch. Ryan Tsourgas stopped the Canterbury openers from getting off to quite the same start, but a second wicket partnership between Robbie Foulkes (47) and Alex Brown (33, initially a reserve for the squad) gave Canterbury some momentum. The chase turned into a real tussle between bat and ball as Canterbury strung together partnerships, but the Wellington bowling attack was too good. Captain Jackson chipped in with 2/17 off his four overs, while Cullen Donaldson had an excellent day with his 4/53 proving the difference in a hard fought 11-run win, Donaldson now among the tournament's top half dozen wicket-takers.
AUCKLAND U19 v NORTHERN DISTRICTS U19
Fresh off a tournament all-time record performance on the previous day, Auckland was riding high and ND had the unenviable task of trying to upset them on the same, small Lincoln No.3 turf. Auckland captain Tom Jones won the toss and batted, and again his men built a strong total. This time it would reach 390/8, not quite at the giddy 400-plus heights of the previous day, but they would take it. Opener James Nelson score a century (110 off 111 balls) and shared another massive stand with left-hander Luke Watson (95 off 100) as they slathered on a 198-run opening stand that dominated the first 33 overs. The pair had both scored centuries here against CD U19 the day before, and it was business as usual despite a late fightback from ND. The opening bowlers, Jake Riley went on to nab 3/64 and Ewald Schreuder 2/70 as they came back into it, to get Auckland eight down at least by the end of the 50 overs. It was Schreuder who had removed Jones and Nelson in consecutive deliveries, but the damage was done by then. Auckland then made the better start with the batt, with four wickets inside the first eight overs. Harry Cullen-Hieatt had two of them and went on to maintain his status as the tournament's top wicket-taker by the end of the day, but he's only just edging out his own teammate, leggie Rahman Hekmat, who spun his way to a four-fa and wrapped up the ND innings in the 36th over for another bonus point. Snehith Reddy (53) and Sam Clode (49) had livened up things with their quick runs and 89-stand for the fifth but it was just too high a mountain to climb against the leading team.
OTAGO U19 v CENTRAL DISTRICTS U19
Central Districts had had a tough time of the tournament so far, and will have been hoping to get their first win against Otago on Bert Sutcliffe Oval. But standing in their way would be the gun 15-year-old from Queenstown in Central Otago, Hugo Bogue who chose this day to produce the highest individual score by anyone at the tournament. Otago captain Nick Brown, from Southland, had elected to bat and Bogue took charge with 143 off 142 balls, including 18 boundaries and just the one six, as he batted for all but the last three balls of the 50 overs. There has already been plenty of talk about Bogue's potential, and as one of the youngest players at this year's Gillettes he showed what that chat was about with his quick hands and stylish strokeplay, not to mention concentration over almost the entire first innings. It was his first standout performance at these nationals and he had plenty of assistance from first frop Will Jones (67) and Zac Cumming's whirlwind 36 towards the death. It all left CD chasing 351 for the win, a big ask on the main ground for a side still looking to click. At 67/4 at the 15-over mark, the writing was on the wall again and although captain George Mowat (34) and stylish Wairarapa batter Sam Payne (51) fought hard, Otago had the upper hand and went on to complete a 135-run victory with seven balls to spare, bowling out CD for 215. Cumming finished with 3/31 and Henry Scott 4/27.
