An absolute thriller between Poverty Bay and Waikato Valley opened proceedings in the ND Secondary Schoolgirls cricket tournament being played at Fergusson this week.

Poverty Bay batted first and reached 87/5. Jayxena Piwari was the star of her side's turn at bat hitting a gritty 42 runs at a run a ball.

Waikato Valley opening batswoman Sarah Parker went on attack and posted a quickfire 52 off 48 balls with seven boundaries in her half century. The Waikato country representatives got home for victory with just two balls to spare and three wickets remaining. Phoebe Taylor grabbed four wickets at a cost of 14 runs for Poverty Bay, with Taylor Hollis taking two wickets.

Defending titleholders Bay of Plenty, who have a very young team with several players still at intermediate school, were bowled out for 46 by Hamilton. Hamilton bowler Sabrina Sidhu, who removed the Bay of Plenty middle order, returned the remarkable figures of four wickets without conceding a run.

The Hamilton victory was a walk in the park with the Waikato team losing just three wickets on the way to victory. Georgina Harris top scored for the winners with an unbeaten 16 runs.

Northland made their tournament entrance in the second round of the T20 encounters, squaring off against Poverty Bay, who were narrowly beaten in the opening round of play. Poverty Bay were bowled out for 77, with Jayxena Piwari posting her side's top score of 15. Four Northland bowlers took two wickets apiece.

The Poverty Bay bowlers strangled their opponent's attempts to hit out and Northland were restricted to 62/6, to hand Poverty Bay a 15 run win. Emma Hayes was the best of the Poverty Bay bowlers with two wickets with the other wickets shared around.

Day One Results

Round One (T20)

Bay of Plenty 46 (Kataraina Fredrickson 14; Sabrina Sidhu 4/0) lost to Hamilton 47/3 (Georgina Harris 16no)

Poverty Bay 87/5 (Jayxena Piwari 42) lost to Waikato Valley 88/7 (Sarah Parker 52; Phoebe Taylor 4/14, Taylor Hollis 2/10)

Northland the bye

Round Two (T20)

Poverty Bay 77 (Jayxena Piwari 15; B Golightly 2/4, T Saunders 2/6, J Litchfield 2/7, C Green 2/16) defeated Northland 62/6 (Emma Hayes 2/10)

Waikato Valley v Bay of Plenty – result not posted

Hamilton the bye