Werribee is a game away from a Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association east-west group grand final berth after its quarter-final with Altona was disrupted by rain at Chirnside Park at the weekend.
The Tigers were not complaining, needing just a draw to move into the semi-finals, but the outcome was trickier than it appeared.
The home side had to see out 76 tense overs on day two.
PICTURE GALLERY: Werribee v Altona
“It was a draw, but it was a tough game of cricket over two days,” Tigers captain Shaun Dean said.
“Everyone was on edge for most of the day. It was backs to the wall. To manage to draw the game … that’s a win in the overall scheme.”
Set 164 to win, the Tigers saw the target as attainable and went in with a positive mindset. That thinking shifted considerably when the top order crumbled to a worrying 4-40.
“I just said, ‘Go out and play as if it’s an 80-over game and we’ll get the runs’, bearing in mind that if we get ourselves in trouble, we can always retreat and we don’t have to play our shots,” Dean said.
“Then at 4-40, you just need to bunker down.”
Tim O’Brien (38) and Wade McCall (48no) took the wind out of the A’s’ sails with a gritty 54-run partnership.
O’Brien was dismissed after tea, but McCall and Jake Purton took the game away by safely negotiating the remaining overs with a minimum of fuss.
“Jake’s innings was just as important as the other two,” Dean said. “He only got 10, but he batted the last 26 overs.”
The Tigers bowled well on the opening day to restrict the run flow and make the A’s bat into the second day. Heath Pritchard continued his fine summer, taking 4-31 off 27 overs.
The Tigers will face Noble Park in a two-dayer at Chirnside Park starting on Saturday, with the winner to advance to the grand final.
