2020/21

NZC National Men's Under 19 Tournament

NZC High Performance Centre, Lincoln, Canterbury

23 December 2020

ROUND SEVEN

Canterbury and Central Districts went through the T20 stage of the Nationals unbeaten to finish first and second respectively.

Auckland meanwhile pulled off a nailbiting win over Wellington, when victory would have seen Wellington go through for the title - the Canterbury side nervous spectators for the final moments.

Wellington's Tim Robinson finished as the tournament's top runscorer with 325 runs across both formats, just ahead of CD's Curtis Heaphy with 310 and Canterbury's co-captain Rhys Mariu.

CD's Jordie Gard and Auckland's pair of leg-spinner Adithya Ashok and Muhammad Abbas were the joint top wicket-takers with 13 strikes each, with Canterbury's Jesse Frew (five catches and three runouts) and Robinson (nine catches) standouts in the field.

It was a tough tournament for Otago who didn't get a win on the board, but they could take a lot of pride in Benji Culhane finishing with the highest score of the competition with his magnificent one-day 123.

Round Seven SCORES

Central Districts beat Otago by 50 runs

A comfortable victory for CD who was one of two sides, along with champions Canterbury, to go through the T20 matches unbeaten. Sam Ferguson (52) and keeper-batsman Curtis Heaphy (53 not out) top-scored after CD elected to bat, Otago's Gabe Ross finishing strong with 3-29. But Otago's batsmen couldn't get going with the bat, late CD call-up Chris Logan claiming 3-15 as the runners up rolled Otago for 98.

Canterbury beat Northern Districts by 58 runs

A big win for Canterbury in what had been a neck and neck race for the title with Wellington. Canterbury won the toss and put a healthy 173/5 on the board at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, with contributions from most of the top six. And, it was an exciting finish with the ball for Canterbury as they dismissed ND for 115. Jesse Frew (son of former Canterbury players Robbie Frew and Lisa Astle, and nephew of Nathan Astle) finished the match with a hat-trick in the 19th over, the achievement also giving him a five-wicket bag with standout figures of 2.4-1-11-5. For ND, Leon Marconi had top-scored with 36 and opener Kuwyn Price contributed 31, but no one else got a start.

Auckland beat Wellington by three wickets

The last match to finish, and the result of the whole tournament resting on it as it boiled down to a last-ball thriller. Wellington had won the toss and lost their final wicket on the last ball of their innings batting first, reaching 124. Caleb Montague (32) and Will Stevenson (35) gave the side a boost in the middle order but Auckland's bowlers were on top with opener Muhammad Abbas taking 3-11 off his three overs.

Wellington competed equally fiercely with the ball as they tried to stop Auckland from reaching a relatively small total on Lincoln Green. The wickets were shared as they kept making regular breakthroughs, but number six Nathan Robinson would prove vital to Auckland with his unbeaten 33* off 28. He hit 14 of the 15 runs off the final over and a boundary off the last ball to squeak Auckland home - a devastating blow for Wellington who dropped down the table as a result of Canterbury and CD winning the other final day fixtures.

Canterbury co-captains Rhys Mariu and Nic Lidstone | PHOTOSPORT