Tara Murray
Werribee responded from its worst performance to produce one of its best of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association south-west season to seal a grand final spot.
A stunning bowling display for the Tigers left Caulfield reeling and would set up victory to ensure the Tigers made it through to the final day of the season for a third straight season.
Tigers captain Tim O’Brien said the last two performances were chalk and cheese.
“We had to forget about last week,” he said. “We had a bad day last week and we had to get it out of our heads.”
“We had been in good form before that and if we played the way we had been leading into that we knew we would put in good performance.
“We’re a pretty experienced group now and we’ve played a lot of cricket together.”
A run out and then some early wickets, had Caulfield struggling at 5-20.
They would be bowled out for 78.
O’Brien said their bowling group all contributed and played their roles.
“There’s definitely a lot of class players especially up the top, to remove [Jacob] Thorne, [Graeme] Rummans and [Daniel] Forbes cheaply was a real key for us.
“Jonathan Burton up front really set the tone for us, bowling nine overs straight and taking 2-11. He got the wickets of Thorne and Rummans.
“Michael Kelly opened the bowling for us with some off spin bowling, as a change for us.
“He bowled a number of spells and took two wickets for us.
“When they got a bit of a partnership, Hamish Winter-Irving was able to break that and he cleaned up the tail. “It was a good collective effort from the boys. It was our best bowling performance for the year.”
Despite chasing a low total, the Tigers were keen to make sure they batted as they normally would.
O’Brien said the total probably didn’t reflect what the run chase was truely like.
“We batted positively,” he said. “The ground was really slow. That 78 was worth about 130 on other some other grounds.
“It was still a tough chase in some ways. The boys batted beautifully and hit the ball over the top and we were able to get off to a good start, which was the key.”
The Tigers finished 0-79 with Matthew Dean finishing 52 not out.
The Tigers will be going for two premierships in a row. They also made the grand final in 2019-20, but the match didn’t go ahead due to COVID.
O’Brien said they were keen to have the same feeling as last season when they came out on top.
This year they will travel to Ormond to face Ormond.
“Three [grand finals] in a row now, we’re really looking forward to this week.
“We’re pumped for it
“They are a really good side and they finished third on the ladder. They’re a pretty even team as well.
“It’s going to be a cracking match I think.”
After having all four of their men’s sides make finals, the first XI is the only one left in contention to win a premiership.
The fourth XI lost their grand final on Saturday, while the second XI were knocked out in the semi final after losing their first game of the season.
