Waaia is in as good a position as any club in the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield after setting up the decimation of Tatura on day one Saturday.
By far the most lopsided day one result, the visitor to Waaia Recreation Reserve never quite adjusted to the deck after electing to bat.
Jesse Trower came up trumps, flattening Tatura’s bats and putting a quick end to things with the final scalp of equal-top scorer Xavier Hutchison, whose 22 has been surpassed by both Waaia openers.
Only three of Tatura’s hitters reached double figures amid a starring display from Trower, who tore the line-up to shreds with devastating efficiency.
THE GAME SO FAR
Waaia 0-76 (Brayden Carey 43*, Jordan Cleeland 28*) v Tatura 89 (Jayden Armstrong 22, Xavier Hutchison 22, Jesse Trower 5-20, Connor Brown 3-27)
The Bombers’ top workhorse took the bulk of this innings himself, posting brilliant figures of 5-20 from his 19.1 overs and wrapping up a fight that never truly began in the 52nd.
In response, Waaia’s openers made the rest look easy, running out to an unbeaten opening stand of 76 to trail by merely 13 runs heading into the second day.
Brayden Carey’s 43 led the way late on the first day to just about ensure Waaia’s unbeaten start to the seaon will continue in a total stroll.
Tatura’s Daniel Coombs was blunt in his assessment of the game.
“(Waaia) bowled really well, took the early wickets and put us under a lot of pressure,” Coombs said.
“The wicket was a bit up and down and it was a challenge for the batters, but there aren’t any excuses; we probably did well to get through 50-odd overs in the end.
“They were able to swing it a long way in the first 20 overs or so. We just struggled to consistently hit a good length.”
Rather than suggesting that Tatura may have struggled to adjust to the two-day format after years without it, the batting struggles were summarised mainly as the product of facing a top-tier attack.
Not that the second-lowest output seen in Haisman Shield this season will be taken lightly, Coombs asserts.
“We’ll expect Waaia to have a bit of a go and then send us back in, and I’ve said to the boys that I expect a response after a pretty poor day,” Coombs said.
“We played poorly against Kyabram, but bounced back the week after, so hopefully we can get on track.
“Having three players out from the week before didn’t help with having to chop and change our batting order, but again, there are no excuses.
“We just continually lost wickets, which makes it difficult to fire back.”