Round three matches at the Commonwealth Bank Under 19 Championship Series in Newcastle were played as one-day fixtures on Sunday following the abandonment of play at all four grounds on Saturday as a result of heavy overnight rain.

Western Australia were aiming to upset the hosts, and undefeated Pool A leaders, New South Wales in their clash at No.2 Sportsground. But, in what has become a common theme underpinning the Blues' batting throughout these Championships, the third wicket pairing of Jarrad Burke (37 from 57 balls) and Mark Faraday (43 from 43 balls) set the platform for an all-out assault from the lower order. Bankstown's Brad Roworth took to the Western Australian attack to smash eight fours and five sixes in making 82 from only 54 balls as New South Wales blasted 109 runs from the last ten overs of their innings to finish with a commanding 7/273.

WA paceman Robert Slowey was spared the expense of bowling toward the end of the innings after he picked up the wickets of both opening batsmen to finish with 2/22. The Championship's leading wicket taker, Beau Casson, continued to deceive opposition batsmen, dismissing both Burke and Faraday before finishing with figures of 3/44 from his ten overs of left arm wrist spin.

Western Australia batted themselves into a very strong position in the reply to be 1/126 after 26 overs. Opener Craig Simmons dominated the early scoring before being dismissed for a very well compiled 82 from 93 balls. That left captain Shaun Marsh to take the lead role in accelerating the innings to 2/164 with as many as 17 overs still in hand. However, the inability of his Western Australian colleagues to rotate the strike didn't allow Marsh to face sufficient balls to maintain the momentum. When he was dismissed for 64 from 82 balls with the score at 6/210 in the 44th over, the game had escaped WA's clutches. After Brendan Mills played out a maiden, the Western Australians finished at 9/235. It left New South Wales as the only undefeated team in Section A and the Blues are now favoured to regain the Championship title after a two-year absence from the Final.

Scrappy, uninspiring cricket was the order of the day in the other Section A match between Queensland and the so far pointless Victoria at No.1 Sportsground. Play was under way on time despite the fact that close to half the ground resembled a lake for much of Saturday following a downpour on Friday night.

Victorian captain Mark Simpson won the toss and elected to bat first but his side wasn't able to capitalise upon the opportunity. The Victorians' indifferent running between wickets masked a lacklustre fielding display from their Queensland counterparts. Opening bowler Scott Brant applied the early pressure and was ably assisted by Chris McCabe (2/21) and John Loader (2/22). Loader was playing his first game of the Championship having replaced the injured Grant Sullivan who flew home to Mackay last week. Again it was wicketkeeper Adam Crosthwaite's (45* from 61 balls) attacking strokeplay and aggressive running between the wickets that allowed the Victorian's to post any sort of total before their innings came to an end at 148 in the 49th over.

The early loss of Luke Davis to the ever consistent pace bowling of Robert Cassell, and a regular stream of wickets thereafter, kept Victoria in with a chance of stealing the match. However, their inability to place sufficient pressure on Aaron Maynard (57 from 59 balls) ensured that the Queenslanders kept their noses in front and were able post a four wicket win with 10.3 overs to spare.

The match between South Australia and Northern Territory - the two undefeated teams in Section B - needed to be transferred from Passmore Oval to the picturesque Wallsend. And, when the South Australians were dismissed for only 153 from 46.2 overs against a Northern Territory outfit that had amassed 739 runs in its first two games, they must have been feeling a little nervous that the match had started at all.

The much-touted top order of the South Australian's failed to produce, with only Callum Ferguson (31 from 85) standing out before lower order efforts from Stewart Smith (27 from 38 balls) and Steven Crook (26* from 49 balls) helped to bolster the total. Ryan LeLoux picked up his second four wicket haul of the Championships to finish with 4/28 from his ten overs of leg spin and was again ably supported by Leigh Mauger (2/17 off nine overs) in his efforts to restrict the South Australian total.

The Territory started positively against the pace of South Australia's new ball combination of Trent Kelly and Chris Duval. With the score at 1/39 and captain Shane McNally undefeated on 23, the side appeared well placed. However, a dramatic collapse saw them lose a stunning six wickets for just nine runs to plummet to a total of 7/48 and forego the opportunity to remain undefeated at the completion of the preliminary rounds of matches.

The damage was inflicted by Duval (3/21 from ten overs) and change bowler Mark Cosgrove (3/13 off eight), who swiftly compensated for his lean Championship with the bat. The innings was eventually wrapped up for 82 from only 31.3 overs, leaving South Australia as the leading team in Section B and with the daunting task of facing New South Wales in the Semi Finals.

The remaining game had both Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory seeking their first points of the Championship. As has been the case in their two previous matches Tasmania could not find a batsman capable of posting a big score despite promising starts from captain George Bailey (34 from 68 balls), Xavier Doherty (26 from 49 balls) and Luke Butterworth (34* from 55 balls). The surprise leading light for the ACT with the ball was middle order batsman and occasional medium pacer Justin Haywood who finished with 3/12 from 3.5 overs. He dismissed Doherty and then polished off the tail to leave Tasmania defending 163.

Sven Holcombe's 86 in Round 1 aside, the ACT had struggled with the bat in their earlier matches and needed to improve significantly to surpass the Tasmanians slim total. It was not to be the case, though. Holcombe fended at Ben Hilfenhaus' first ball to be caught behind and from there only Holcombe's opening partner, Warwick Baker, showed any resolve. He posted the only double figure score of the innings - with his 31 from 84 balls - as his team crashed to be all out for 69 in the space of 38.2 overs. The left arm orthodox spjn bowling of Doherty (3/3) and Ben Coombs (2/7) was complemented by the medium pace of Clinton Viney (2/17) in the rout.

At the completion of the Preliminary Rounds of matches the standings are as follows;

1. New South Wales
2. Queensland
3. Western Australia
4. Victoria
5. South Australia
6. Northern Territory
7. Tasmania
8. Australian Capital Territory

Tuesday will see the commencement of the Semi Final round of matches.

Championship pace setters New South Wales will be looking to continue their charge toward the Final when they take on South Australia at University No.1. South Australia will undoubtedly face their toughest match to date after topping Section B.

Having pipped Western Australia in their battle for second place in Section A, Queensland will go into the teams' clash at No.2 Sportsground with an important advantage. If weather intervenes in the match - as it did during their earlier encounter in the Championship - and a first innings result is not achieved, they will have done enough to progress to the Final.

Victoria will be looking to retain their place in the top section of the draw for next year's Championship when they confront the ACT at Belmont's Miller Field.

Tasmania, meanwhile, will be looking to press for a positive early result against Northern Territory at Lorn Park before Xavier Doherty's departure to join his colleagues in the state's senior squad for the Tigers' Pura Cup clash with the Queensland in Brisbane that begins on Thursday.

Play in all four matches will commence at 11am.

© 2001 Australian Cricket Board