Action is successfully underway on the opening day of the NZC Men's Under 17 Nationals at NZC's High Performance Centre in Lincoln, Canterbury.
The age-group nationals have returned this season after a two-year absence, having been spelled last summer due to the 2022 summer Omicron outbreak, and the previous season due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Six squads representing New Zealand's six Major Associations are competing in both one-day and T20 formats across the extensive tournament, beginning with a one-day round robin and finishing on Monday, 23 January with the final T20 round.
All matches are live-scored at www.nzc.nz and on the NZC app, and all matches played on Bert Sutcliffe Oval are also livestreamed on the NZC YouTube channel.
Today's livestreamed match is the southern derby between Canterbury Under 17 and Otago Under 17, Canterbury captain Toby Robinson electing to bat first.
Canterbury is the defending champion, having won the title the last time this tournament was contested, in the 2019/20 season.
Otago has made a strong start with the ball, however, Canterbury having been 119/5 at the 30-over mark with Otago opening bowler Mason Clarke sitting on fine figures of 4-17 after his first seven overs.
Central Districts captain Ethan Campbell won the toss on Lincon No.3 and elected to bat, but the Glenn Pocknall-coached side is off to a tough start, having been dismissed by Northern Districts for 134 in 27.3 overs, ND requiring just 2.7 runs per over for a victory this afternoon.
On Lincoln Green, Wellington Under 17 won the toss and bowled against Auckland Under 17, the Wellington team keen to emulate the New Zealand title-winning feats this summer by both the Wellington Under 19 men's and women's teams.
