Argentina's Under 13s won the inaugural South American Championship unbeaten, proving to be the strongest team in the region at this age group level. In their two matches yesterday, at the Campo de Deporte Avelino Vieira in Curitiba, Brazil, they narrowly beat Chile by one wicket and three balls to spare and rounded off their campaign with a solid win against home-team Brazil by 27 runs.

The day began with Argentina fielding and Chile scoring 76 runs in 20 overs. The Argentines started slowly at the crease and failed to impose its batting, losing wickets on a regular basis, with Ignacio Pizzo the only player to reach double figures.

This being a developmental tournament saw a few of the Argentines playing their first tight match and going into the final over, they still needed eight runs to win the game and the tournament. Pizzo and Matías Fennell saved the day, scoring the needed runs with three balls left.

"Winning this tournament was important to prove ourselves against unknown opposition," said captain Patricio Cores, from St. Alban's, who also took the best batsmen award with 76 runs. "The team got better with each game and we hope our achievement will encourage more players to come and play cricket."

Captain Cores lead from the front with 52 runs against Brazil, a game Argentina U13 won. Batting first, they got 100 runs, and Brazil were restricted to 73 runs after their allotted runs.