Cricket: West the hero in nailbiter

Northland's Sean West has been dubbed a hero after he ran out a Hamilton batsman in the final over of their Northern Districts Junior Secondary Schools' final in Auckland. Photo/Ron Burgin.

Northland's junior secondary schools' cricket team is the best of its kind under the Northern Districts umbrella, thanks largely to a final over run out by Sean West.

A direct hit from 20 metres saw West mobbed by his jubilant team mates as Northland became Northern Districts Junior Secondary cricket champions in Auckland, beating Hamilton for the title.

Needing two runs to win in the last over, Hamilton gambled on a quick single but West was too quick and accurate and he hit middle stump.

After having two days rained out during last week's five-day tournament, Northland and Hamilton advanced to the final after each were unbeaten in pool play.

Come final day, both teams were keen to win the toss on a damp wicket in a reduced 40-over match. Having been sent in to bat, Northland struggled to get going on a slow outfield with only Chamodh Peiris (28) putting together a strong innings as the side reached 126. Helping their cause were the Hamilton bowlers who gifted Northland 30 extras, including 22 wides.

Two early wickets from off spinner Aaron Ranara had Northland buzzing, but at the halfway stage Hamilton were 65 for two and in the box seat.

At drinks, coach Karl Treiber suggested trying something different by using leg spinners Quinn Pooley and Peiris, who between them had bowled just one over in the tournament. This proved a masterstroke as six wickets fell for just 20 runs.

Pooley at one stage had three wickets for one run off three overs while Peiris was equally unplayable. Hamilton looked doomed at 85 for eight but crawled their way towards the target until the thrilling finale and West becoming Northland's newest hero.

Manager Roger Kidd was delighted with the result and praised the team spirit which was crucial when things got tight near the end.

Adding to the excitement was the fact that Northland had one of the youngest teams, with seven year nine pupils available to defend the title next year.

Northland Cricket general manager Warren Marr commented earlier this year that he wanted to see Northland teams winning national tournament, and they have started to deliver.

Marr said he had a feeling a few months back that Northland would start to see some results from the work of Stephen Cunis and his coaching team.

"We're very happy with that," he said. "This is vindication of the work that has been done over the last two years. I had a feeling it might come this year but didn't want to say it because I know these things don't happen overnight. We were into our third year and I thought it was about the time we got some results."

RESULT

Northland 126 (Chamodh Peiris 28, Van Grooby 11 n.o., Hamish Kidd 10, Aaron Ranara 10; Johnny O'Sullivan 4/18, Liam Calmon 2/16) beat Hamilton 124 (Jamie Moore 33, Braydon Gaylor 31 n.o.; Quinn Pooley 3/14, Chamodh Peiris 2/17, Aaron Ranara 2/24, Caleb Boswell Smith 1/17).