Unbeaten Wairarapa win Whanganui girls' under-18 cricket tournament

The celebrations begin to mark the end of the 2018 Cricket Express Girls' Under-18 tournament in Whanganui on Friday.

Wairarapa remained unbeaten to take top honours in the rain-affected Cricket Express Girls' Under-18 tournament in Whanganui.

The four-day tournament was cut short with Thursday afternoon's games abandoned and Friday's finals also aborted mid-innings through rain.

Wairarapa, in front with 13 points, was playing Taranaki on 10 in the final when the rain arrived soaking the Tasman Tanning pitches at Victoria Park.

Taranaki batted first and was quickly bundled out by a strong Wairarapa side for 109 in 19.5 overs. In reply Wairarapa was 29/0 after 3.3 overs when rain stopped play.

Officials declared unbeaten Wairarapa tournament winner and hardly surprising given the leaderboard statistics from the week.

Three key Wairarapa players are current members of the CD Hinds and the trio featured at the top of the leaderboard.

Georgia Atkinson was the tournament's best batter scoring 289 runs during the five matches, including her 118 not out against Nelson, while Kate Sims was judged best bowler taking 9 wickets for 73 runs and sister Gemma the best fielder with 7 catches and three stumpings.

Wairarapa's Olivia Roseingrave was in-form before the final was abandoned taking four wickets for 23 runs from just four overs.

Fellow Hinds player Monique Rees was perhaps the best for Taranaki smashing 44 off 39 balls.

Taranaki finished second in the tournament, while Manawatu edged out Nelson for third on run rate after both ended round robin play with seven points apiece. Hawkes Bay was fourth and the youthful Whanganui side finished with the wooden spoon.

However, to be fair the Jess Watkin-mentored side had only one 17-year-old in the team with the remainder under-15, including two 12-year-olds.

Meanwhile, Nelson coach Warren Brown rated the under-18 Whanganui tournament a key motivating tool to help keep teenagers in the game.

"There's a huge gap between under-15 competition and under-21 with nothing really on offer for those not ready for the step up," Brown said.

"I have been to the Whanganui Festival of Cricket in the past, but only with a few players to help with numbers in makeshift Canterbury sides. This is the first time I have been here with a full Nelson squad.

"What Dilan (Dilan Raj Cricket Whanganui) and his team have done here with the whole festival is brilliant. They do it so well and create a great atmosphere to learn and develop the players.

"All at this under-18 tournament are from within the Central Districts patch and it's brilliant that all coaches work together for the common cause - to find the best players possible to play for CD. It's also a great platform to teach skills and improve the girls' knowledge of the game and that's not an easy thing to achieve.

"But the best things is that it fills the gap between the two age groups and gives girls too old for under-15 and not yet ready to take the step to under-21 competition - which is quite strong - something to aim for, it helps keep them in the game," Brown said.

The Festival of Cricket continues on Monday with the arrival of the under-15 teams from the six New Zealand regions - Northern Districts. Auckland, Wellington, Central Districts, Christchurch and Otago.

This four-day tournament is the one that reveals emerging talent and ultimately acts as a nursery for first class and national sides, including the White Ferns.