NT claim victory in Territory clash

Northern Territory cricket got a big shot in the arm when the under-19 side beat the Australian Capital Territory at the 2023 national male cricket championships in Albury.

Cameos from Palmerston leg-spinner Jayden Chatto and his clubmate at the Power, top order batter Charlie Bignell, lifted the Junior Strike to a six-wicket win over the Capitals in their ninth and 10th qualifying match.

Chatto's 4-54 from 10 overs put a big dent in the ACT innings after they had reached a comfortable 1-81 batting first on a wicket that give the spinners some assistance.

The ACT lost 9-115 from that solid start, batting like millionaires in pursuit of quick runs and giving the Strike outfielders some catching practice.

Chatto reduced them to 6-146 by grabbing four wickets in quick succession, tempting the big swinging ACT batsmen into suicide shots into the outfield and bowling No.6 batter Dave Dubey off his pads.

Bignell carried on from his 69 against NSW Metro on Monday with another innings of class, making another 69 at a crucial time to steady the Strike ship when it could have foundered.

His aggression against the short ball and ability to find the boundary ropes upset the line of the ACT bowlers, who must have rated themselves a chance to win when the Territory lost its fourth wicket at 145.

An unbeaten 54-run stand for the fifth wicket between Arjun Sehrawat (29no) and the youngest member of the side, 17-year-old Nicholas Fleming (22no), got the Strike home with more than five overs to spare.

Strike coach Udara Weerasinghe was full of praise for his side, particularly the Territory contingent who made big contributions to the match result.

"Chatto's four wickets from 10 overs of very good spin bowling, Charlie Kemp's two wickets at the end for virtually nothing and Fleming's wicket when he clean bowled their opener, meant seven wickets fell to homegrown Territory talent,'' Weerasinghe said.

"Charlie Bignell with another very good innings and Zayden Lewis with a valuable 30 with the bat, showed we do have some very good cricketing talent in the NT.

"We've improved in all parts of the game since day one and I told the players they now had to go out and implement it where it counted, on matchday, and they did.''

The NT meet Tasmania in the final playoff match on Thursday for seventh and eighth on the championship table.

Northern Territory 4-199 (C Bignell 69, Z Lewis 30, A Sehrawat 29no, N Fleming 22no, T Hogan 2-18) d ACT 196 (N Allen 62, J Smith 31, R Rahman 28, J Chatto 4-54, C Kemp 2-7) by six wickets.