TIGERS’ WOES FORGOTTEN
TASMANIAN leader Jordan Silk is confident Tuesday’s batting collapse against NSW was only a “hiccup” as the state gets the chance to quickly rebound today.
After two impressive performances with the willow in Townsville to open the JLT One-Day Cup tournament with a pair of victories, the Tigers came crashing back to earth at North Sydney, skittled for 151 chasing the Blues’ 239.
However with only a day off be- fore returning to the field to tackle South Australia at Bankstown, Silk believes the short turnaround can play into the side’s hands.
“It was disappointing, as a batting group we had been really good in our first couple of games,” Silk said.
“I think you have to give a little bit of credit to the way NSW bowled, we were undone by some good bowling in that game. Also on the flip side credit goes to our bowlers, to be able to keep NSW to a score of 240 at North Sydney was a good effort.
“It is a good thing for our batting group that we don’t have much time to dwell on it, we just have to try and turn our attention to South Australia and get on with it and get back to what we were doing really well in Townsville.
“The short turnaround almost helps us in a way, we can just brush it aside and get ready for another game. It was a little hiccup … I’m confident we can turn it around.”
Despite the format of the tournament seeing all teams play finals regardless of finishing positions on the ladder, Silk declared the Tigers firm- ly had their eyes set on a top-two spot. The two top teams progress directly to the semi-finals, while the bottom four will meet in knockout qualifying finals.
“It is a bit different this year with everyone playing finals, but I still think there is a lot of incentive for us to try and finish in the top two after the start we have had to the season,” he said. “Obviously that’s one less game we have to play and that would still be the main focus for this group. Definitely it’s a clear goal after the way we have started.”