Few would have earmarked this as a one-sided Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield affair going into Saturday.
Ladder leader Waaia had a statement of intent to make and did so with the utmost venom, appearing to cast Kyabram aside after the Redbacks elected to bat.
Two leading contributors bolstered Kyabram’s efforts, with Paul Parsons picking up on some of the good times he enjoyed the week prior against Old Students thanks to his 33 (six fours).
Ever-reliable Kyle Mueller also stuck around a while, patiently pushing his way to 45 before Quinton Venter struck with the ball to deny another potential half-century.
Jesse Trower flexed his muscles once again on the other end, though, tearing through Kyabram’s line-up despite not claiming the wicket of either standout batter.
Instead, Trower prevented any other shoots from growing as he took the day’s workhorse shift, finishing with 6-47 and moving to a clear league-best 35 scalps in season 2023-24.
Mitch Cleeland was undoubtedly content with his star’s performance.
“Jesse’s taking wickets for fun at the moment,” Cleeland said.
“He doesn’t bowl a bad ball and opposition sides surely hate facing him.
“It’s a massive weapon for us to have.”
In response to Kyabram’s underwhelming 144, the Bombers lost Brayden Carey in the early going, but found themselves more than comfortable at 1-39 when the umpire called stumps.
Not that this was necessarily how Cleeland planned it on Saturday morning.
“Ideally we would have batted first as well, but we lost the toss,” Cleeland said.
“Making sure their guns don’t fully fire was a big win for us.
“To bowl first and restrict them to under 150 was a great job, although there’s plenty of work to do for us.
“To go in one down and tick off 40 of the runs is something we would have comfortably taken if you’d told us at the start.”
A likely victory on day two would mathematically seal the minor premiership for Waaia, which has seen the summit plenty before — but rarely reaped the rewards.
THE GAME
Kyabram 145 (Kyle Mueller 45, Paul Parsons 33, Jesse Trower 6-47) v Waaia 1-39 (Jordan Cleeland 19*, Sam Trower 18*, Charlie McLay 1-13)
By that token, Cleeland knows the hard yards are just kicking in.
“We’ve finished top spot before over the past two or three years and we’ve gone out in straight sets anyway,” Cleeland said.
“We know the top spot is a massive plus, but that’s not the end of it.
“The home final was a priority for us, but it’s not the be-all and end-all; we’ve still got work to do.”