The two-day Round 5 matches at the Under-19 National Championship have wrapped up and competition for spots at the top of the table is tight.
Western Australia continued their unbeaten run at the Championship with a win over Victoria and they now sit only one point behind Queensland, who are currently the tournament leaders.
Western Australia resumed at the crease at 2-62 and they were in a comfortable position as they set about chasing down Victoria’s total of 126. They conceded only three wickets before passing Victoria’s total. Despite losing some quick wickets in the middle of their innings, Western Australia managed to bat out the day and stumps were called when they finished all out for 334 after 110.5 overs. Western Australia had a number of batsmen who made significant contributions throughout their innings, including Ashton Turner (96), Dan Kennedy (82) and Brody Lewis (68). James Muirhead (6-133) led the Victorian bowling attack, while Captain Meyrick Buchanan (2-32) chimed in with two wickets.
A Round 5 win over host state South Australia has helped Queensland to maintain their position at the top of the Under-19 National Championship table.
Having made solid in-roads to the chase on day one, Queensland needed to add only 78 more runs to claim victory, having reached 2-69 overnight. Queensland did not lose another wicket before passing South Australia’s total thanks to a 214-run partnership between Marnus Labuschagne (120) and Sam Hain (114 not out). Queensland declared at 3-280 after 77 overs in an effort to secure the elusive outright victory. South Australia’s leading wicket-taker for the Championship to date, Thomas Derham (2-24), was the only bowler to claim multiple wickets in the first innings.
South Australia made a better fist of their second innings at the crease and prevented Queensland from claiming the outright victory. Harrison Drew (26 not out) proved to be the rock of the South Australian innings, while Daniel Lennox (2-17) was the pick of the bowlers. South Australia finished their second innings at 4-102 from 36 overs when stumps were called at the end of day two.
New South Wales resumed their run chase at 2-16 and managed to hold on to their third wicket until 65. They lost their fourth wicket having added only four runs to their total and it looks as though the momentum had swayed the ACT’s way. Kerrod White’s (127 no out) impressive knock helped to steer New South Wales to a total of 7-270 off 86 overs when sumps were called, which secured them victory and kept them in the hunt for the title. Eric Denhartog (3-28) was the pick of the ACT bowlers, while Nick Winter (2-59) did not claim any further wickets on day two of the game, having claimed the first two scalps the previous day.
Resuming at 3-100, Tasmania were only 36 runs behind the Northern Territory’s total with seven wickets in hand. After a solid batting display Tasmania declared at 7-239 after 86 overs in search of outright victory. Opener Beau Webster (68) was again impressive for Tasmania, while middle-order batsman Michael Jones (78) was integral in helping build his side’s total. Matthew Hanna (2-20) was again the pick of the Northern Territory bowlers.
Any chance of an outright victory was brushed aside early as a solid opening partnership between Northern Territory batsmen Christian Thiel (37) and Ben Whyte (37) helped steady their side’s second innings. The Northern Territory finished at 4-121 off 54 overs when stumps were called. Tasmanian bowler Marc Simonds (2-19) finished the day with good figures.
The tournament will now move into the T20 format for the remaining two rounds of the Championship.
MyCricket will host all scorecards and stats for the Under-19 National Championship. Simply select the Championship of choice from the drop down menu. Results will be uploaded at the end of play each day.
