THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
Fekete inspires Tigers
THE Tigers have one foot in the door of the Sheffield Shield final and will today try to extinguish the hopes of Victoria’s tilt at a fourth consecutive title.
A swing bowling master class from Andrew Fekete, who collected career best figures of 6-67, helped skittle the Bushrangers for 182 on day two at Blundstone Arena.
It gave Tasmania a 162-run first innings advantage, a lead that had stretched to 235 by stumps with six wickets in hand after skipper George Bailey declined to enforce the follow-on. Jake Doran (23) and Matthew Wade (two) — who captained the Victorians in the first two triumphs of the state’s three victories — will resume this morning, desperate to ensure the wobbles that appeared late last night are forgotten as they strive to put the contest out of reach.
With the Tigers securing more bonus points to increase their buffer in second place on the shield table, the only way Victoria can force its way into the final against Queensland next week is to pull off an unlikely outright victory.
Veteran seamer Peter Siddle (2-22) led the visitors’ fightback by removing an out of sorts Alex Doolan and Beau Webster cheaply, before first innings destroyer Chris Tremain and Scott Boland chipped in with the crucial wickets of Jordan Silk and George Bailey.
Having blown an almost identical position of dominance last week with a disastrous second innings collapse to let South Australia back into the game, the Tigers will not want a repeat to avoid giving the Bushrangers a sniff.
“Definitely would rather be in our position than theirs at the moment, but as we have seen, batting conditions have been challenging most of the game,” Fekete said.
“We are still trying to win, batters are going out there looking to bat with intent and stick to the game plans down here which have served us well.
“We are trying to get as many runs as possible. We are not thinking about just batting and batting.”
Since winning the Ricky Ponting Medal four summers ago and earning Australian Test squad selection in September 2015 — a tour to Bangladesh that was eventually cancelled — Fekete has battled injuries as well as some indifferent form.
He returned to the side only last month after Gabe Bell’s season-ending foot injury, and has made the most of his recall.
“I feel since post-Big Bash I have had some good form and found a bit of rhythm, which I haven’t felt for a couple of years with some injuries,” Fekete said.
“The last few games I feel like I have been bowling well. Today was the day I got the edges and got the rewards.
“Everyone has been bowling well … today was my turn.” IN THE battle for the shield wooden spoon at Glenelg in Adelaide, South Australia is likely to collect the dubious honour after a poor day two against Western Australia that has left last year’s finalists with a mountain to climb.
Second-last Western Australia reached 3-115 at stumps, for a hefty 269-run lead at the midway point of the contest.
The home side’s batting failed to fire yesterday at Gliderol Stadium, and it was dismissed for just 201. New left-armer WA paceman Liam Guthrie took 4-59.