Ahmad Khawaja
The ICNZ Junior Provincials tournament concluded yesterday and champions were crowned across all grades, with the spoils being shared across the provinces. Team and grade MVPs were also named. Here are the results from day 3 of the tournament:
Under-13 Boys:
In the all-Auckland Plate final, it was Auckland White who came away with an exciting two-run win, edging out Auckland Blue by 122 to 120.
In the main cup final, it was Canterbury who underlined their dominance in the grade, with a convincing 92 to 46 win over Wellington.
- Winner – Cup: Canterbury
- Winner – Plate: Auckland White
- Runner-Up – Cup: Wellington
- Runner-Up – Plate: Auckland White
- Team MVPs: Fraser Farrell (Auckland Blue), Rustin Langford (Auckland White), Jayden Meyer (Northern Districts Gold), Scott Rarity (Northern Districts Maroon), Sam Reddiex (Wellington), Shamus McCulloch (Canterbury Red), Cameron Jones (Canterbury Black), Issac Milne (Canterbury)
- Grade MVP: Issac Milne (Canterbury)
Under-15 Boys:
The two best sides in the competition faced off in the final as Central Districts Green battled Southern Districts in the Under-15 boys grade.
Both came through their semi-finals with Central comfortably accounting for Auckland 125 to 81 and Southern taking down Northern Districts by 117 to 98.
In the final it was Southern Districts who avenged their one-run loss in the round-robin stage, beating Central in a thrilling final by 100 to 97.
- Winner: Southern Districts
- Runner-Up: Central Districts Green
- Team MVPs: Harlin Amaral (Auckland), Devon Murdoch (Northern Districts), Lachlan Bailey (Wellington), Shamus McCulloch (Central Districts Green (Lovepreet Padda), Reece Henderson (Central Districts White), Jonty Raxworthy (Southern Districts), Jaeden Hooper (Canterbury)
- Grade MVP: Jonty Raxworthy (Southern Districts)
Under-17 Girls:
A very tightly contested grade came down to a close-run final as Wellington faced off against Northern Districts in the final of the girls Under-17 grade.
Wellington came through their semi-final, comfortably beating Southern Districts by 129 to 90, whilst Northern had to battle to get past Auckland by 91 to 88 in the other semi-final.
The final went down to the wire, with Northern surprising Wellington with a hard-fought 97 to 92 victory to claim the title.
- Winner: Northern Districts
- Runner-Up: Wellington
- Team MVPs: Rishika Jaswel (Auckland White), Annie Ewart (Auckland Blue), Georgina Harris (Northern Districts), Xara Jetly (Wellington), Estella Grant (Southern Districts), Sarah Amussen (Canterbury)
- Grade MVP: Xara Jetly (Wellington)
Under-17 Boys:
Canterbury took their unbeaten run into the final of the Under-17 boys grade, racking up a 141 to 110 win over Central Districts in their semi-final, while Wellington remedied their loss to Northern Districts in the group stages, running out 129 to 90 victors.
In another close final, Wellington surprised the favourites, taking a 98 to 87 win to a claim a first title for Wellington at the tournament.
New Zealand Under-21 representative Ryan James, who will also compete for Canterbury in the Senior Men’s Provincials in Auckland at the end of the month, was named the MVP of the grade.
- Winner: Wellington
- Runner-Up: Canterbury
- Team MVPs: Ryan James (Canterbury), Ryan Jackson (Wellington), Josh Driscoll (Auckland), Corey Townsend (Northern Districts), Lachie Shankland (Northern Districts Development), Joey Field (Central Districts)
- Grade MVP: Ryan James (Canterbury)
