A mammoth 218-run partnership between Thomas McGann and Sam Wright saw Tasmania reverse their round-one under-17 nationals result and defeat Cricket Australia XI by 21 runs.
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Winning the toss and having first hit against the highest-rated 16-year-olds in the country, Tasmania lost the early wicket of Zac Phair.
But soon after, his fellow opener McGann and the in-form Wright, who came into the game off the back of scoring 80, put the Tigers back in the box seat.
Seeing the young Tasmanians to 1-99 off 25 overs, the top-order duo continued to work their way into the innings, seeing off Nick Stathoris' four overs, who took two wickets in their previous match-up.
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Wright played a more anchor-type role, facing more balls in less time, bringing up his 50 in 80 balls before ramping up the run rate with consecutive boundaries off Luke Holt's eighth over.
He continued to explode in patches, working his way to 100 in the 42nd over, while his partner, McGann, fell devastatingly short, dismissed by Holt on 95 off 111 balls.
Wright fell three balls later for 111 off 137 at the hands of opening bowler Harrison Lemmey, leaving two new batsmen in Nicholas Davis and Cooper Anthes at the crease at a sticky time.
Anthes (1) fell victim to Stathoris, bringing Mowbray's Spencer Hayes to the fray for an eight-run stint while Davis steadied the ship around him and others, scoring 29 and guiding the Tasmanians to a final score of 6-267.
The Tigers' defence got off to the perfect start with Sam Voss claiming the dangerous Teague Wyllie with the very first ball of the innings before Jake Dixon came on to claim the second wicket and have CA reeling at 2-38 off 11.
Wickets would then be hard to come by for the green, red and yellow with 'keeper-captain Liam Blackford and Luke Davies doing the job for Cricket Australia XI, putting on 74 runs before Mowbray's Sam Freeman and Riverside's Anthes teamed up to dismiss Davies for 26, leaving the batters at 3-100 off 25 overs.
Will Salzmann upped the run-rate in his short stay to require 102 off the last 14 overs with six wickets in hand but it was Blackford who continued to make his mark, reaching his 100 and keeping the CA XI in the game.
Blackford fell short of guiding his team to victory, run out by Davis for 117 as James Simpson picked up three late wickets.
Final Scores
Tasmania: 6-267
S.Wright 111, T. McGann 95,
N.Stathoris 2-45, T.Balkin 2-58
Cricket Australia XI: 6-246
L. Blackford 111, L.Davies 26
J.Simpson 3-39, S.Voss 2-43
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Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
