Central early leaders at National Under 18's

 

Anish Desai hits 209 for Northern Districts

Central Districts have pulled away from the pack early in the National Under 18 Tournament at Lincoln.  

They accumulated 15 points from nearest neighbour component of the competition and kept a determined Auckland side to a draw at the end of today’s two-day match.  Both teams collected one point form the result but Central have now opened up a nine point buffer over the rest of the field.

Batting first Central piled on 368 before declaring with two wickets in hand and then kept Auckland to 331 for nine.  The Central total was set up by opener Byrnn Cleaver who made a massive 131 while James McDougall contributed a handy 79.  Auckland’s Ganesh Ratnasabapathy put in a respectable performance with the ball, picking up three for 48.  In reply, the Auckland top order made a good fist of the run chance with Sachin Variath (61), Ben Horne (40), Mark Chapman (65) and Robert O'Donnell (52) helping lift the score past 200 before the Central bowlers fought back to get them nine down before stumps.

Northern District’s batsman Anish Desai cracked 209 in a remarkable innings that was studded with 34 boundaries.  His mammoth score helped Northern get 365 but it wasn’t enough to overtake Canterbury’s first innings total and avoid conceding first innings points.  Batting first, Canterbury declared on 389 for four with Ken McClure finishing unbeaten on 127 while bowler Sam Chamberlain’s three for 56 to keep Northern 24 runs short.

Henry Walsh’s century was the difference between the teams in the last match of the rounds with Wellington securing two first innings points against Otago.  Batting first, Wellington hit their way to 400 with the bulk of the runs coming from Walsh who made 163 in an innings that included 14 fours and eight sixes.  He found a willing partner in Brett Johnson who struck a credible 77.  Otago put in a solid effort against the big total with Tom Griffin (62) and Rhys Bayly (88) resisting before the team were bowled out for 314.   Niki Zivkovic  was the best of the Wellington bowlers with three for 35 while Kieran McComb took three for 53.

Results, full scorecards and full match reports - http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/domestic/National-under18/120/schedule.aspx 

Auckland v Central Districts – http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1348/scorecard.aspx 

Northern Districts v Canterbury - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1349/scorecard.aspx 

Otago v Wellington - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1350/scorecard.aspx

 

Points

 

Central Districts – 16

Auckland – 7

Canterbury – 7

Northern Districts – 2

Otago – 2

Wellington – 2