NSW Country defeated Northern Territory by 153 runs in Round 4 of the U17 National Champs.
Under 17 Round 4 review
A diet of spin bowling and smart ground fielding combined to rout a youthful Northern Territory under-17 side in their match against NSW Country at the 2024 national championships.
The left-arm finger spin of Blake Mackrell claimed five wickets in the Rural Blues' 153-run win.
Two wicket hauls from fellow slow men, right-armer Thomas Blowes and left-armer Jaylen Johnston, made it a comfortable afternoon for the country side.
That was after NSW Country made 6-260 in 45 overs, reduced from the customary 50 because of a late start due to a damp wicket.
Territory selectors fielded a young side in the fourth round match in a bid to give all of the squad a taste of championship cricket against the best players of their age across Australia.
Injury robbed them of maximum overs from fast men Nicholas Fleming and James Hatton, who left the bowling crease early with muscle soreness.
Coach Tony Judd pointed to the lack of championship cricket in a side containing three 14-year-olds and debutants Matthew St Clair and Mithuru Perera meant a steep learning curve for his side.
"We had to rest a number of players and had two quick bowlers go down after just eight overs,'' Judd said.
"We were however able to gave a number of our younger players a bit more exposure than we normally would.
"We've got kids travelling all this way and we want to give them some exposure by putting them higher up the order and so on.''
The batting of 14-year-old Palmerston allrounder Rehaan Shyamsundar again impressed in a 33-run, 68-ball stay at No.5 in the order that only ended when Mackrell hit his off stump with a ball that kept low.
Territory skipper Archie McCormick had a good match with the bat and ball, grabbing 2/49 from 10 overs of off-spin and hitting four boundaries in his unbeaten 28.
The Territory meets Tasmania on Wednesday in a playoff game to decide final championship rankings.
NSW Country 6-260 (H Roscarel 80no, K Wilson 67, A Hiskens 66, A McCormick 2/49, R Shyamsundra 1/20, J Hatton 1/23) d Northern Territory 107 (R Shyamsundra 33, A McCormick 28no, B Mackrell 5/20, T Blowes 2/14) by 153 runs.