Tigers take chase to next level

Shield favourites on fire

TASMANIA shot to the top of the Sheffield Shield table and favouritism to host the final next month when it smashed Western Australia with a day to spare at Blundstone Arena yesterday.

The Tigers were ferocious against the men from the West, beating them by an innings and 87 runs — the 10 bonus points boosting Tasmania from fifth to top spot with three games to play.

The Warriors were on a hiding to nothing when they walked to the middle on day three, needing 188 runs just to make Tasmania bat again, with only five wickets in hand and two days to survive. It was over in a flash. Tiger Tom Rogers claimed a second innings 3-46 to add to his 4-9 in Western Australia’s first dig, and Tasmanian skipper George Bailey praised his bowlers, who excelled in the absence of injured pace duo Jackson Bird and Gabe Bell.

“The younger bowlers will take a lot of confidence out of it,” Bailey said.

“Most teams would say you need to have that depth. You can’t rely too heavily on one bowler.

“Jackson didn’t play at the MCG pre-Christmas and we put in a really strong bowling performance there too.

“The group has got some confidence that we can do it when he’s not there.

“Having said that, we love it when he is there.”

The Tigers were in deep trouble on day one when the Warriors had them 5-159.

Bailey lauded the courage of wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, whose superb knock of 139 laid the foundation for Tasmania’s 9-431 declared.

Wade combined with allrounder Simon Milenko (78 off 82) for a crucial 180-run partnership.

“They were two great innings that changed the momentum of the game,” Bailey said.

“That allowed ‘Wadey’ to get into his innings and start scoring some runs.

“He had been really patient and put in the hard yards.

“He deserved to go on and get three figures.”

Bailey said the Tigers had a keep-it-simple-stupid approach to their bowling, which saw the Warriors dismissed for 67 in their first innings.

“When the ball is doing a bit and with a bowling group missing our two leading bowlers in Gabe and Jackson, it was a pretty basic plan,” he said.

“Looking at the pitch maps and where we were landing the ball, it was probably as good as we’ve bowled as a group.”

Taking top spot on the ladder was a blessing and a curse, but for now Bailey will enjoy the moment.

“It’s nice to be on top after a couple of lean years but I’m not spending much time looking at the table,” he said.

“I’m enjoying [coach] Adam Griffith’s approach — that long-term view of what the team should and hopefully will become.

“It’s pretty tight and the ladder will fluctuate from game to game.

“I will take pride in backing this up with a really good week in Sydney and our next game.

“That would be very pleasing from my point of view, but winning is a lot of fun.”