Two horse race at Under 18 tournament

Big wins in the first two Twenty20 rounds for Northern Districts have set up an exciting final day at the Under 18 tournament at Lincoln. They handed Auckland their first defeat of the tournament and then beat Wellington to give themselves a chance.

The equation is simple for Auckland who are ahead of Northern Districts by two points – if they beat Central Districts in their final match tomorrow they will be crowned champions. Should they lose and Northern Districts win against Canterbury they will lift the title.

Northern Districts v Auckland

Full Scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1030/scorecard.aspx#current

Ben Hyde hit 45 and Joe Carter 55 as Northern Districts piled on 165 after being put into bat and then bowled out competition leaders Auckland for 100 in 17.4 overs.

Northern’s Nick Kelly did most of the damage, trapping both openers LBW and taking another middle order wicket to finish with figures of three for 17 off four overs. Auckland’s Ben Horne was the only player to reach double figures with a hard hit 56 off 36 deliveries.

Canterbury v Otago

Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1029/scorecard.aspx#current

Canterbury put Otago into bat and managed to restrict them to 120 for eight and then cantered to 123 for two in 18 overs.

Canterbury’s Theo van Weorkom took three for 25 with scores of 29 by Jonty Brown and Rheubyn Prattley the best for Otago.

A belligerent 65 off 41 by Dylan Goldstone and measure 36 off 48 by Ken McClure ensured the win the comfortable win for Canterbury.

Central Districts v Wellington

Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1031/scorecard.aspx#current

Connor Neynens smashed 14 off the final over, including a six off the penultimate ball, to hand Central Districts a six wicket win over Wellington.

Batting first, Wellington made 144 with Henry Walsh top scoring with 37 off 36 deliveries. The Central run chase was led by Neynens and Daniel Ingram who came together at 74 for four, sharing an unbeaten 75 run partnership to seal the win. Ingram finished no 26 off 24 with Neynen’s 60 off 44 the innings of the match.

Auckland v Otago

Result: Auckland won by 9 wickets
Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1032/scorecard.aspx#current

Wellington v Northern Districts

Result: won by 25 runs
Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1034/scorecard.aspx#current

Central Districts v Canterbury

Result: Canterbury won by 4 wickets
Full scorecard - http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match1033/scorecard.aspx#current

Points table:
(See attached for full points table)

Auckland – 23
Northern Districts – 18
Canterbury – 18
Wellington - 11
Central Districts – 8
Otago – 0