Otago have claimed a tight victory over Northern District’s in their 50 over match at the Under-18 tournament in Lincoln.
The southerners successfully chased down Northern’s total of 237 with one ball and three wickets to spare in a spectacular finish.
Northern opted to bat first and while all the batsmen were in good touch, no one really took control of the innings. The starts however did add up and gave Northern a decent total to defend.
Anish Desai carried on his incredible form and top scored with 46 as Northern finished their 50 overs at 237 for four.
The chase from Otago was an exciting one which could have gone either way right until the final over.
Captain Gregor Croudis got Otago off to a good start with a handy 53, but Ben Willemsen was the best of the batsmen as he made an impressive – and crucial – 72 from 92 deliveries.
However wickets had fell at far to regular intervals and the run rate started to climb for Otago.
Young bowling Jacob Duffy sensation then came to the crease for Otago and put in a match winning performance at the bottom of the order.
Duffy smashed an unbeaten 27 off 16 deliveries to give Otago a valuable win with one ball to spare in the ultimate over.
It was a thrilling finish to what had been an evenly fought match, with Otago coming out the victors.
