As the only two undefeated sides remaining, the North West Sydney Hurricanes and Penrith will face-off in Thursday’s Western NSW Under-15 Boys’ Carnival grand final at Wade Park.
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Both scored victories on Wednesday’s third day of play to stay unbeaten and secure their places in the decider, beating out Wagga Wagga and ACT Blue respectively, who were both undefeated heading into the third round as well.
The Hurricanes’ victory over Wagga came by the reasonably narrow margin of three wickets at Jack Brabham 4, and was inspired by Harris Haider’s epic, six-wicket haul. He snared 6-9 as North West Sydney skittled Wagga for 117, successfully chasing seven down.
Meanwhile at Riawena Oval, Penrith was comfortably taking care of ACT Blue by five wickets, on the back of an equally-inspiring show from Aiden Kells.
After Raheem Abdul punched out 77 to lead ACT Blue to 211, Kells carried his bat in the chase, scoring a magnificent ton to ensure Penrith’s victory.
In a three-hour stint at the crease he piled on 126 from 145 balls, hitting 10 fours and two sixes along the way, and was helped capably by Lachlan Morris (32) and Oscar Sultana (21) in particular as Penrith secured victory with five wickets and three overs in hand.
Kells appears to hitting form at the right time, after being removed for just one and 21 on the opening two days of the carnival, before plundering his ton, which was the first century of the 2019 tournament.
Mitchell, the hosts, will be left to fight it out for minor placings after finishing the preliminary rounds with two wins from three games, Dubbo doing the same.
The Black Caps edged to a thrilling victory at Glenroi Oval on day three, with Charlie Griffith’s unbeaten top score of 32 not out the key to the former side successful chasing down Illawarra’s 9-154 with one wicket in hand.
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Dubbo’s second win came over Sydney Academy, at Country Club Oval. Felix Booth made 60 as the latter side posted 134, before Lawson Shepherd top scored with 42 as Dubbo won by three wickets.
Blacktown (6-121) also defeated Mosman (119) on Wednesday, while the result of South Coast’s clash with ACT Yellow was not available at time of publication.
After staying undefeated thanks to their day three win over Gordon Blue, Western Zone is set to face Gordon Red in the final of the girls’ tournament at Kinross Main Oval.
On day three Gordon Red (8-148) also handed two-time defending champions ACT (88) their first defeat of the 2019 edition, while Western’s Invitational XI (8-143) scored their first win of the carnival.
Led by Niamh McPhee’s half century, she made an unbeaten 54, the Invitational XI successfully chased to win by two wickets.
Western’s Invitational XI will face the ACT on Thursday, while Gordon Blue plays Penrith.
Due to the ongoing heat, all of Thursday’s games will start at 8am and will be 40-over affairs except the final at Wade Park, which remains 50-overs-a-side.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
