Article written by Grey Morris (Darwin, NT) who is a former Sports Editor at News Corporation
An unbeaten century by Victoria Country middle order bat Archie Lalor steered his side to a 134-run win over the Northern Territory in the opening round of the Under-19 National Cricket Championships in Adelaide.
The match at Glenelg Oval produced Lalor's match highlight and some aggressive late order batting and disciplined bowling from the Victorians.
Lalor's 112 runs from 96 balls were the mainstay for Vic Country in a 163-run sixth wicket stand with left hander Ashton Frost as his side reached a creditable 5-298 after 50 overs.
NT vice-captain Nicholas Fleming (1-27 from seven overs of medium pace) and spinner Jack Appleton (1-28 from eight overs) were the pick of the bowlers.
The NT batters never threatened the 299-run target when they regularly lost wickets to be bowled out for 164, vice-captain Nicholas Fleming top scoring with 27.
Other contributions came from Cadell McMahon (23) and Suhas Challa (22) as the NT batters struggled to hit the ball off the square against an accurate and disciplined Vic Country bowling attack led by quicks Xavier Wishart and left-arm seamer Frost.
Strike coach Dylan Slater said the late batting surge by the Victorians after some smart bowling from the NT in the first 40 overs had hurt his side.
"It just shows the depth they've got at Cricket Victoria, it doesn't matter where they bat at clubland, when they get an opportunity at national championships they can score a lot of runs," he said.
"The same with their bowlers, but there is always room for improvement in our batting and we look forward to meeting Tasmania in our next game.
"What is important is we're playing a nice positive brand of cricket and that will put us in good stead for the Tasmanians."
Day 1 - NT v Vic Country: Vic Country 5-298 (50 overs) (A Lalor 112, A Frost 57, N Fleming 1-27, J Appleton 1-28) d NT 164 (N Fleming 27, C McMahon 23, S Challa 22, X Wishart 3-50, A Frost 2-11) by 134 runs.
Click here for the full scorecard