Albany and Districts under-16 side finish with strong victories highlighted by century from Teague Valli

Young star Teague Valli smashed a superb unbeaten century on Thursday to help Albany and Districts under-16 A-section side finish strongly at junior country week in Perth. Albany and Districts under-16 side were out of contention for the grand final at the conclusion of Wednesday’s play, however they ended their campaign with three strong wins to finish the week-long tournament in third place. Valli scored his first century after retiring not out on 100 from 77 balls against Busselton-Margaret River in round five on Thursday. The young gun guided his side to a dominant 161-run victory at Stan Twight Reserve. Albany and Districts posted a mammoth total of 8-280 batting first. After the loss of two early wickets, Jed Schwarzbach and Caleb Haua shared in a 80-run partnership. Haua was dismissed for 34 bringing Valli to the crease and he added 19 with Schwarzbach before the latter was removed for a well-made 56. Valli took over the innings from there on and shared in a terrific partnership with Devon Jefferis (31 not out). A single through backward point bought up Valli’s century before he retired. In reply, Busselton-Margaret River were bowled out for 119 in the 38th over. Jed Kowald was the star with the ball taking 4-17 from 7.1 overs. Albany and Districts won their third and fourth play-off on Friday against Busselton-Margaret River at Murdoch University Sports Ground by two wickets. Busselton-Margaret River posted 9-148 batting first from their 50 overs as Valli (2-5), Kowald (2-19) and Cameron Walsh (2-27) impressed with the ball. In reply, Albany and Districts were in trouble at 6-79 when captain Caleb Haua departed for 22. Valli came in at number eight and steered his side to victory as he and Kowald shared in a 40-run stand. Albany and Districts finished on 8-149 off 37.1 overs with Valli unbeaten on 36 from 45 balls. Valli was the under-16 A-section leading run scorer with 256 runs at an average of 70.67, while Kowald was the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 11 at an average of 7.64.