2020/21
NZC National Men's Under 19 Tournament
NZC High Performance Centre, Lincoln, Canterbury
17 December 2020
ROUND ONE
Two tight finishes got the 2020/21 edition of the national youth one-dayers off to an exciting start with Central Districts, Northern Districts and Canterbury all taking opening round wins.
Canterbury defeated Auckland by just eight runs in a hotly contested match on Lincoln Green.
Sent in, Canterbury's NZ U19 rep Rhys Mariu got off to a flier, then put on 45 for the second wicket with Nic Lidstone before being bowled by yet another U19 World Cup veteran in legspinner Adithya Ashok on 54.
Lidstone carried on the momentum in a 64-stand with Jesse Frew to guide the hosts to the midpoint of the innings but Ashok (2-51), captain Nikith Perera (2-40) and Yahya Zeb (3-37 off 5.4) fought back with regular late wickets to bowl the side out for 235 with a handful of overs to spare.
Auckland got off to a tough start in reply losing both openers early as Harry McMillan struck twice. McMillan opened the bowling with the tall Angus Sidey, the stat of the Gillette Cup one week earlier in Lincoln as Christchurch Boys' High dominated every match.
Sidey went for a tidy 28 off his 10 overs, including two maidens and played a significant role in keeping thr pressure on Auckland. It was Sidey who removed their number four, Jock McKenzie, on 70 in the 33rd over with the match in the balance.
The Canterbury attack was still under pressure at the death, but two wickets off Frew's last over left the Aucklanders nine down and just out of reach, losing by eight runs.
What a game to start the tournament as Canterbury get the round one win over Auckland by just 8 runs!
— Canterbury Cricket (@CanterburyCrick) December 17, 2020
SCORECARD | https://t.co/6IzRSfNuFz pic.twitter.com/xZFPVqY8Qp
Central Districts recovered from the early loss of captain Seb Lauderdale-Smith with a string of partnerships getting them up to 256/7 in their 50 overs on big Bert Sutcliffe Oval.
Curtis Heaphy top-scored with 60 at first drop but it was teamwork the whole way through as they batted deep.
Wellington meanwhile utilised no fewer than eight bowlers and the wickets were shared around; before a rocky start with the bat had them in early trouble in the reply at 49/3.
Fred Mowat picked up two of those wickets, but Wellington's Tim Robinson (68) and Sam French (89) steadied the ship with a 93-run stand for the fourth.
Once the stand was broken, young spinner Toby Findlay (3-30) got things moving again for CD as they ripped through the line-up to bowl Wellington out in the last over 14 runs short.
Otago Under 19 bowled first after winning the toss on Lincoln No.3 and got a handful of early wickets for their trouble, ND U19 74 for five in just the 13th over.
And then Northern got their act together, and then some.
Batting at seven, Niven Dovey produced the first century of the tournement with his 106 coming at run-a-ball pace, including 40 runs in boundaries and one six.
Dovey also shared a 106-stand with Leon Marconi (42) for the eighth wicket, a fine recovery as ND pushed itself up to a score of 302/9 and batted out their 50.
Otago's NZ Under-19 rep Beckham Wheeler-Greenall gave the southerners a chance with his 94 at the top off 107 balls, but after his dismissal in the 43rd over at 238/6, Parkes mopped up for ND to finish with 4-52, ND taking the win by 37 runs.
