A valiant knock from Captain Ralph Stephens was not enough to prevent Victoria Metro from claiming victory on Day Three (19/1) of the U17 National Championships.
Stephens (Darwin CC) came to the crease early in the first innings during the match at Devonport Oval, Launceston, and looked to rebuild the Northern Territory’s innings while wickets fell regularly around him.
Stephens (44 from 92) was patient in his approach scoring only one boundary but showed great resilience to fight back against the Victorian side which had early momentum on its side.
Contributions from Neel Patel (13) and Palmerston’s Cadell McMahon (20) helped provide some support, however it was Stephen’s lone hand which helped the NT post a total of 110 from 47 overs.
With early wickets needed for the NT side to make a comeback, leg-spinner Reehan Shyamsundar (2/29) was called upon to open the bowling, and he managed to strike twice early with smart catches taken by Tracy Village’s Tye Beer and Southern Districts Matt St Clair.
St Clair (0/18) was also impressive with ball-in-hand in his first match back from injury, and despite not picking up any wickets, bowled economically and challenged the outside edge on multiple occasions.
Opening batter Santhosh Ramireddy (55 not out) overcame the best efforts of the NT bowlers to guide his side to an eight-wicket victory, as Victoria Metro chased down the total in the 24th over.
Assistant Coach Jesse Dinnie reflected on the match:
“The boys are not far off the mark in the tournament, we are probably just losing too many wickets in clumps which is making it hard for us to maintain momentum in games”.
“Ralph was super impressive today and played a captain’s knock, he showed the fight and determination that we have come to expect of him”.
NT will now turn their attention to next (Monday) fixture against South Australia.
Northern Territory 110 (Stephens 42, McMahon 20; Rath 2/14, Sharma 2/16) def by. Victoria Metro 2/113 (Ramireddy 55*, Du Toit 21*; Shyamsundar 2/29, St Clair 0/18).