YARRAVILLE will have to serve up its best and then some to chase down an imposing target set by Werribee in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.
The Eagles will need to make 286 on day two at Chirnside Park on Saturday to maintain their spot in the south-west group’s top four.
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They made a solid start with the ball on Saturday, having the Tigers in a spot of bother at 3-55 in pristine batting conditions.
But the Tigers fought back on the back of 56 to skipper Shaun Dean and took a stranglehold on the game thanks to contributions from the middle and lower orders.
Eagles assistant coach George Shaw could only applaud opponents who took full advantage of the batsman-friendly track.
“Our boys stuck to the task,” he told the Weekly.
“We broke through early but couldn’t get wickets when we needed to towards the end. Werribee obviously batted really well.”
The Tigers had strength in numbers, nine of their 10 batsmen reaching double figures.
Dean was the catalyst for the big score, but his teammates were willing to get their hands dirty once he departed.
The stern late resistance surprised the Eagles somewhat.
Adam Alifraco came in at No.8 and put up 45, while Jake Purton (34), Wade McCall (32), Stephen Plumridge (28no) and Matthew Thomson (20) made life difficult for the Eagles.
“I thought once we got Shaun out, and he batted really nicely, we might’ve been able to go through them quickly,” Shaw said.
“They were 6-170 when we got Shaun out, so I thought by then we might’ve been able to finish them off not long after. To their credit, a couple of their younger lads batted well towards the end.”
Patrick Prestidge was the most damaging of the Eagles’ medium-pacers with 3-20, claiming three of the top four batsmen while being limited to just eight overs by severe cramps.
The leg-spinners, Tim McRae and Adam Yates, came in handy when the temperature topped 34-degrees. They sent down 40 overs between them. McRae finished with 3-80 off 25 overs and claimed the prized scalp of Dean, while Yates had 3-76 off 15.
“They both did their jobs under tough conditions,” Shaw said.
The Eagles have their backs to the wall, but they’re not down and out.
They have the ability to bat deep in the order and you only have to cast your mind back to round four for evidence of that.
“We proved that last game against Malvern when we collapsed to 5-11 and ended up being 8-245,” Shaw said.
“We bat deep, which is pleasing from our point of view, and we’ll give ourselves an even-money chance if we bat all day.”
VSDCA SCORES
Firsts
Werribee 9-285 (P Prestidge 3-20 A Yates 3-76 T McRae 3-80) v Yarraville, Roxburgh Park-Broadmeadows 6-247 v Altona; Kingston Saints 2-88 v Williamstown 123 (N Kalaiya 42 C Smith 32).
Seconds
Yarraville 0-24 v Werribee 235 (J Raymer 3-41 P Cruden 2-27 A Ramadge 2-29); Altona 243 (C Duff 69 L Wilson 60 J Varchione 26) v Roxburgh Park-Broadmeadows; Williamstown 309 (A Vncent 98 S Davis 50 J Smith 44) v Kingston Saints 1-7.
Thirds
Brunswick 108 (S Bratby 2-7 M Knight 2-16 B El-Kurdi 2-19 C Sturrock 2-22) v Williamstown 6-76; Werribee 174 (M Findlay 2-15 M Devlin 2-29) v Yarraville 5-32); Roxburgh Park-Broadmeadows 80 (A Lewis 4-21 A McIntyre 3-3) v Altona 4-97 (A McIntyre 27 J Donazzon 27no).
Fourths
Williamstown v Brunswick 316; Yarraville 2-54 v Werribee 208 (J Torr 3-26 J Lee 3-38 C Jamieson 2-33); Altona 144 (B Murfet 44 V Cutajar 26) v Roxburgh Park-Broadmeadows 0-16.
