Werribee has felt the full effect of the Carl Sandri spin cycle.
Sandri, a former Premier Cricket journey- man, was the cornerstone to Moorabbin’s three-wicket victory on his club debut with a man-of-the-match display in a VSDCA south-west group one-day match at Chirnside Park on Saturday.
Sandri weaved his magic with the ball to take 6-18 off 7.3 overs, complementing his two catches in the field and a big part in a successful run chase with 33.
“He bowled well on a track that was conducive to spin,” Tigers captain-coach Mitch Johnstone told
Star Weekly.
It was Werribee’s third straight one-day loss this season. Their form in the limited-overs format is starting to worry Johnstone with a further two crucial one-dayers to come.
The Tigers have slipped to sixth on the ladder with several teams outside the top six breathing down their neck. Points in the shorter-format games could determine finals places.
“Our one-day cricket is something we’ve really got to improve on,” Johnstone said. “We’ve got the quality players to address that, but we’ve got to find a solution and pretty quick.”
Werribee has lost games either side of the holiday break and the gloss is starting to come off their hot start.
Two-day matches against top-two sides Oakleigh and Caulfield over the next two rounds could make or break the Tigers summer.
“It’s a critical stage of our season, really,” Johnstone said. “We know the next couple of games are going to be really influential in terms of us being able to give it a really good crack this year.”
Werribee was disappointing with the bat on Saturday, bowled out for 141 in 44.3 overs.
Johnstone top-scored for the Tigers with 37 from the middle-order after the Tigers’ star batsmen all endured a rough day at the crease.
Brad Robertson was the second-top scorer with 24 at No.10 and the veteran later bowled economically with 1-24 off 8.5 to cap an impressive outing.
Robertson will be unavailable for this weekend’s big clash with Oakleigh, but his absence could leave open a spot for 16-year-old paceman Jack Budd, who was the standout bowler with 2-15 off nine overs.
“At this stage, it’s more so a one-day role, but considering his performance he may even warrant taking the new ball in the two-day stuff,” Johnstone said.
“He really put in a good show. He’s a bit of a skidding type of a bowler; it hurries on to the bat. … his consistency is a strong point to his bowling so he’s easy to set fields to.”
The Tigers’ clash with Oakleigh is a Saturday-Sunday affair at Chirnside Park this weekend.
