You could have written your own ticket for a win by Werribee Centrals over Footscray United at the start of the day in the VTCA on Saturday.
But against the odds, the Centurions battled back for a stirring 29-run win at Galvin Park, moving them up to second spot on the west A1 ladder.
“After day one, it looked like an uphill task,” Centurions wicketkeeper-batsman Chris Duffin told Star Weekly.
The Centurions have a strong bowling attack, so they’d have believed a defence of their first innings 177 was possible.
But United had made such a strong start to their innings, to be 0-56 entering the second day, that no one could have predicted what was about to happen.
The visitors had a dramatic batting collapse, losing 10-88 and ending the innings at 148.
Centurions changed their approach from the first day to turn the game on its head.
“We were quite poor with the ball [late on day one] so we knew coming into the start of the second day that if we were a bit more conservative in our approach, a bit more patient, we’d be able to build more pressure,” Duffin said.
Centurions paceman Nathan Johnson instigated the collapse with a pressure-building 3-23 off 15 overs, which included the wicket of United opener Rasika Fernando for 43.
“Because he’s so tall, he makes it a little more awkward for the batsmen. He bowls a good length and does a little bit with the ball,” Duffin said. “In the last couple of games of last season he really started to lift his pace and he’s a lot more confident in his ability now.”
Thanancheyan Arunthavapalan bowled 17 consecutive overs in the heat to finish with a tidy 3-21, while Luke Allister took 2-43 off 16.
Brad Broughton, Centurions’ co-coach, had a fine game with 62 in the first dig and 19 in the second.
The Centurions will travel to Newport- Digman this weekend for their last mach before the mid-season break.
Wyndham Vale (8-253) celebrated a first innings win over Royal Park-Brunswick (223) on Saturday after new recruit Michael Nalesnyik blasted 104 not out.
The Falcons leapt to fifth in the standings ahead of Saturday’s trip to Sunshine Heights.
In west B1, Seabrook (209 and 3-61) suffered a loss to Williamstown Imperials (269), while Point Cook (7-229) was overrun by West Newport (9-250dec).
