WERRIBEE snuffed out the slim chance Yarraville had of usurping its mammoth target of 286 by putting the visitors in a choker hold in the early exchanges on day two in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association at Chirnside Park on Saturday.
The Tigers came out with a plan to cut the flow of runs before the tea break and new-ball operators Matthew Thomson (2-35) and Jonathan Burton (1-23) executed to a tee.
CLICK HERE for our picture gallery from day one of the big game.
“We bowled the first 20 overs for 40-odd at about two an over,” Tigers skipper Shaun Dean told the Weekly.
“They were always playing catch-up after that.”
The Tigers put a bounty on the head of Eagles first drop Matthew Harrison.
The former Premier Cricket star had to make a ton for his side to have any chance of victory and duly saluted with 108.
The only problem for Harrison, he ran out of mates.
Adam Yates (42) stuck around for a while to figure in a 77-run third wicket partnership that gave the Tigers food for thought.
Dean initially set aggressive fields for Harrison, but abandoned that plan when he raced to 30.
It was fast becoming apparent that damage limitation tactics Yarraville used on Dean seven days earlier — giving up a single to get the lesser lights on strike — might be the best way to go for the Tigers.
The tit-for-tat worked for the Tigers as it stemmed the flow of runs and saw them make inroads on the 10 wickets.
“He just came in and hit it beautifully from ball one,” Dean said.
“He was their key, punishing anything that was full and wide.
“At one stage we had seven fielders on the off side and he still managed to find the fence.
“We had no answers basically, so we thought if they were going to do that to us, I was more than happy to do that to them.” Daniel Torre hung around with Harrison to make 34.
He was one in a long line of victims of the Tigers second bowling unit.
Spinner Tim O’Brien snared 3-66, medium pacer Wade McCall took 2-45 and sixth-change off-spinner Adam Alifraco claimed 2-4, including the prized scalp of Harrison.
It just showed the amount of bowling options at Dean’s disposal.
“I’m the only one that didn’t look like having a bowl today,” he said with a laugh.
“It can be a hindrance as captain to have so have many options because you feel as though you need to share the ball around.
“At the same time, it’s good that you have those options up your sleeve.”
The Tigers will make the short trip to Altona for a two-day game starting on Saturday.
The two sides play annually for the Paul Jenkins Shield.
“He was a good player for both clubs,” Dean said.
“There’s always a bit of feeling in these games because both clubs want to win that shield.”
VSDCA SCORES
Firsts: Werribee 9-285 (S Dean 56, A Alifraco 45, J Purton 34, W McCall 32, S Plumridge 28no, MJ Dean 26) d Yarraville 218 (T O’Brien 3-66, A Alifraco 2-4, M Thomson 2-35, W McCall 2-45).
Seconds: Yarraville 9-239 (S Molloy 3-53, C Ratnayake 2-31, C Moran 2-67 ) d Werribee 235 (M Burton 85, T Foster 38, R Alifraco 3,1 S Molloy 25).
Thirds: Plenty Valley 182 (N Buykx 4-26, NJ Duxson 2-19, D Buchanan 2-23) lt Werribee 8-237 (D Buchanan 63, J Russell 29no).
Fourths: Yarraville 5-154 (J Lee 66n, R Sinha 34; M Andrews 2-28) drew Werribee 208 (R Dodemaide 33, D Gage 30, D Snow 28, B Hurn 27, J Russell 25).
