Northland Primary boys cricket team unbeaten in Hamilton

Northland's primary school boy's team smile after their unbeaten run in their Hamilton tournament this week. Photo / Supplied

Northland's primary school boy's cricket team capped off an unbeaten, rain-plagued tournament with a nail-biting win against Hamilton on Wednesday.

The boys left the Northern Districts Primary Boys Tournament unbeaten after rain saw their game at Waikato University on Sunday against Hamilton called off and would go on to affect all but the final game.

On Monday, Northland played Waikato Valley in a T20 game where Waikato were dominated from the first ball, Hunter Scott and Jake Couling taking two wickets each to restrict Waikato to 86.

Northland were on track to knock off the total at 41 for 3 before rain intervened and the game was abandoned.

With Tuesday's forecast looking poor, it was decided there would be a better chance for teams to play two T20 games instead of a single 30-over game

The first of these was against Hamilton Invitation where Northland's top order all played well to reach 172 for 3. Impressive batters were Ryan Krige 37, Mikey Robinson 30 and Adam Moggarch 26 – all retired.

The Hamilton Invitation side would collapse under the consistent pressure of the Northland bowlers with Hunter Scott taking three wickets for 10 runs and Connell O'Sullivan with 2 for 8 playing a big part in bowling them out for 58.

The afternoon game against Bay of Plenty Lakelands saw Northland bat first on a water-logged pitch after rain interrupted play.

Once the weather cleared, batting turned into a lottery against the spinners in particular as the ball didn't bounce off the sodden surface.

However, a close finish saw Northland hold their nerve with some good bowling and fielding in the drizzle to win the game.

On the final day, Northland played Hamilton in a 30 over game. Hamilton posted 124 with Ryan Krige the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 18 off five overs.

Chasing, Northland were in early trouble at 17 for 3. Michael Robinson and Adam Moggarch had a solid partnership to got Northland back on track but when Moggarch was dismissed and Robinson had to retire after 45 balls faced, Northland were left vulnerable. Sanjiit Chopra and Hunter Scott were left to score at five an over to win.

By picking up singles with great running between the wickets they edged closer and even after the fall of Hunter, Connell O'Sullivan and Sanjiit saw the team home with two overs to spare.

Northland Cricket's Karl Treiber, who travelled with the team, said it was a successful campaign all round with some challenging conditions and close games.

"The best feature though was that all players were given opportunities to bat and bowl with several different batting and bowling combinations used. All contributed well at times and it puts us in a good position moving forward into next year and beyond."

Northland's secondary schools girl's team and junior secondary boy's team both start their Northern Districts tournaments next week.