Unbeaten Weigl ton steers Lara challenge
A QUADRICEP strain sustained by star opener Andy Hughes has taken the gloss off Lara’s productive day at Burdoo Reserve, where a wonderful unbeaten 109 from captaincoach Daniel Weigl was the catalyst to the visitors’ challenging 8-218.
Weigl’s 154-ball 109 was the cornerstone of the visitors’ tally, although with Hughes retiring hurt at 22 the Cats were forced to dig deep through the middle order.
“We think it’s just a slight strain and while he was happy to keep going and bat with a runner we just thought, with us having already qualified for finals, there wasn’t much to gain from him staying out there,” Weigl said.
“He was icing it and avoiding aggravating it further, he’s already booked in to see a physio.
“It’ll take a lot to stop him from being in the first final, that’s for sure.”
The Tigers once again relied on the talents of Gareth Yelland (3-62) and Chris Young (2-43) with lengthy spells, although evergreen Cats’ all-rounder Danny Hughes provided a substantial roadblock with a composed 115-ball 43.
Hughes combined with Weigl to manufacture an invaluable 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
“I love batting with Danny because if there’s a bit of a battle, he’s so competitive he’ll get up for the fight,” Weigl said.
“I’ve batted with him at both Leopold and Grovedale, and the shots he was playing, he’s still a genuinely good bat.”
Paceman James Fisher (1-41) created the early breakthrough removing Brad McMaster (12), and while Tigers’ skipper Barry Tsitas looked to all three spinners throughout the innings, only Glen Talarico (1-25) struck success.
“I thought they bowled well all day and didn’t give us a lot of bad balls,” Weigl said.
“Our goal is to bat 85 overs every week and we were forced to fight it out with the bat, it was just a grind, it reflects that the game is right in the balance.”