A week of brilliant cricket has seen the Northern Districts Under 19 Women's side finish third at the National tournament in Lincoln; just one win off first-place Central Districts.

The tournament began with four 50-over games which yielded mixed results.

Northern Districts (ND) were well-placed in their first match against Otago before it was abandoned in the eighth over of the second innings.

Their second match was a final-ball thriller, as ND overhauled Central Districts' 143 off the last ball of the innings to secure a two-wicket victory, handing the eventual winners their only defeat of the tournament.

The next two games would see ND experience their only defeats of the tournament, but there were several individual performances which provided significant highlights of the week.

ND fell an agonising two runs short of Wellington's 253, but Lucy Boucher scored a sensational run-a-ball 108 not out; the first century by any player in the tournament.

The next game wasn't as tight as Auckland ran out winners by 49 runs, but Emma Baker claimed an impressive 5-60 before Makayla Templeton made it two ND centuries in two games with 107.

The next three games saw a switch to at T20 format in which ND would go through undefeated.

A 39-ball 53 from Lucy Boucher helped ND chase Canterbury's 128/5 for a seven-wicket victory, before they experienced a reverse of their earlier fixture against Wellington; successfully defending 118 to win by two runs.

ND's final game was another final-over affair; Emma Baker hitting the winning run off the second-to-last ball to finish on 121/7.

The strong individual performances saw several ND players walk away with individual accolades, with Boucher top-scoring across the whole tournament with 221 runs, while Holly Topp finished third in the run-scoring charts with 196.

Baker made it a batting/bowling ND double, as she took the most wickets in the tournament (14), closely followed by ND teammate Templeton with 12 and Georgina Harris in fourth-equal with 10.

Tournament Results

Otago Women Under 19s 120 (20 overs; GA Harris 3-29) versus Northern Districts Women Under 19s 40/0 (7.3 overs) - match abandoned (Full scorecard)

Central Districts Women Under 19s 143 (31.3 overs; KJ Gaging 40 not out; MB Templeton 3-19) lost to Northern Districts Women Under 19s 144/8 (35 overs; LF Boucher 37, HE Topp 36; M Scoular 2-11, MS Rees 2-14) by two wickets (Full scorecard)

Wellington Women Under 19s 253/9 (50 overs; JK Mason-Jones 45; GA Harris 3-39) defeated Northern Districts Women Under 19s 251/4 (50 overs; LF Boucher 108 not out, HE Topp 49; BC Molony 2-45) by two runs (Full scorecard)

Auckland Women Under 19s 284/8 (50 overs; GR Adams 116, S Petherick 80; EL Baker 5-60) defeated Northern Districts Women Under 19s 235/7 (50 overs; MB Templeton 107, HE Topp 42; E Irwin 2-28, AT Hucker 2-29, BG Illing 2-32) by 49 runs (Full scorecard)

Canterbury Women Under 19s 128/5 (20 overs; JM Waghorn 60 not out; EL Baker 2-17) lost to Northern Districts Women Under 19s 130/3 (15.5 overs; LF Boucher 53) by seven wickets (Full scorecard)

Northern Districts Women Under 19s 118/7 (20 overs; HR Kells 2-14, BC Molony 2-26) defeated Wellington Women Under 19s 116 (20 overs; EL Baker 2-13, MB Templeton 2-14, GA Harris 2-29) by two runs (Full scorecard)

Otago Women Under 19s 120/5 (20 overs; ON Gain 44, EJ Carson 44; MB Templeton 2-20, EL Baker 2-26) lost to Northern Districts Women Under 19s 121/7 (19.5 overs; A Ewart 34; BJ Herath 2-18) by three wickets (Full scorecard)