Under-19 tournament finals begin tomorrow

Otago and Wellington will compete for first place in the two-day section of the National Under-19 Tournament at New Zealand Cricket's grounds at Lincoln University on Wednesday and Thursday.

New Zealand Cricket assistant operations manager Catherine Campbell said the pool play rounds of the tournament had been played in excellent ground conditions.

"The wind was pretty blustery but the pitches were in great condition and were conducive to good batting," she said.

"Early on the batsmen squandered opportunities through over adventurous play. However, in the past few days players have cashed in on the conditions with more circumspect batting."

When the final round begins tomorrow Central Districts and Northern Districts will play for third and fourth place and Canterbury and Auckland will play for fifth and sixth place.

"The New Zealand Under-19 side to play in the Provincial A Team Competition in January will be announced following the tournament," Campbell said.

The one-day section of the tournament begins on Friday.

Highlights during the pool play section of the tournament include:

Batting (most runs):

Ross Taylor (Central Districts) - 398 runs, average of 99.50
James Hill (Wellington) - 234 runs, average of 117.00
Henry Bates (Otago) - 215 runs, average of 107.50

Five centuries were scored during pool play.

Bowling (best performances):

Greg Hegglun (Central Districts) - 8-50 v Northern Districts
Richard Sherlock (Central Districts) - 6-17 v Canterbury
Adam Chambers (Canterbury) - 6-63 v Otago