By Lance Jenkinson
Point Cook will exhaust all avenues in order to get back into the contest against Sunshine in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 3 grand final.
The Warriors are on the ropes at the mid-point of their four-day season decider at Dempster Park, but they refuse to wave the white flag.
A massive 116-run first innings deficit sums up a dismal opening two days for the Warriors.
Warriors player-coach Aaron Whear knows the odds are stacked against his side but has implored his players not to give up.
“It was a pretty tough weekend,” Whear said.
“As we said to the boys, if we’re looking at the equivalent of a footy game, it’s half-time.
“We’re obviously down, but it’s not over just yet.
“I’d rather be them than us right now, but it’s not over till it’s over.”
Photo Gallery: Sunshine vs Point Cook
Point Cook struggled mightily with the bat.
The Warriors were blasted out for 81 in 51.3 overs by Sunshine’s impressive bowling attack.
“When you win the toss and have a bat, you’re not looking for 81, so that’s disappointing,” Whear said.
At one stage, Point Cook appeared headed for a sub-50 score.
Gurbaksh Khaira showed some fight to make 15 off 80 balls and Sarwan Kumar threw caution into the wind for 21 off 20, including three fours and a six.
“It could’ve been worse – we were seven for not many,” Whear said. “We almost doubled our score with the last two or three wickets.”
Point Cook at least showed plenty of spirit with ball and in the field.
It was a strong team effort from the Warriors bowling attack, led by Owen Doolan, who took 3-10 off 12.
The Warriors could not stop Sunshine building a first innings lead though.
The Crows were 8-197 at stumps, a lead of 116, thanks largely to a century from Asela Aluthge (117).
Point Cook’s commendable efforts in the field will be for nought though if they cannot take the final two Crows’ wickets quickly in the first session on Saturday.
The more time Sunshine takes out of the game and the bigger their first innings lead, the odds of an unlikely comeback for Point Cook will blow out significantly.
However, if they can snare those two wickets relatively cheaply, Point Cook will assess what they need to do with the bat.
“It’s about finding a balance because we’ll need to bat reasonably aggressively to set some sort of a target and we’ve also got to balance that with having enough overs to be able to take 10 wickets,” Whear said.
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