Sunshine United requires just 19 runs to beat Williamstown CYMS and claim Turf Cricket’s west A1 premiership.
In an action-packed match at Langshaw Reserve at the weekend, the Tigers were better for longer as 34 wickets fell in two days.
With his team at 4-30 and chasing a target of just 49 for the outright win, Sunshine United captain Ben Foster is happy with his side’s position ahead of day three next Saturday.
“I’d certainly rather be in our position than theirs. The guys are pretty confident they can knock the runs over,” he said.
Bowling first on day one, United made light work of the Williamstown batting line-up, dismissing the CYs for just 107.
In reply, the Tigers stamped their authority, reaching the dominant position of 4-106 when stumps were called on day one.
It looked as though a huge lead was on the cards, but that wasn’t the case when play resumed on Sunday.
Williamstown found its rhythm for the first time in the match, knocking over the remaining six United batsmen for just 41 to restrict the Tigers’ lead to a manageable 40.
“There may have been a bit of a lapse there and they may have got a couple of favourable decisions,” Foster said.
“I guess when you have 11 blokes screaming at umpires that can always happen.”
Any thoughts of a reverse outright quickly disappeared when Michael Glowacki took the ball to start the CYs’ second innings.
The speedster ripped through the lineup, taking seven wickets to claim a 10-wicket haul for the match.
“It was a real lionheart performance by Michael,” Foster said. “He really dug deep, bowling 14 overs in a row and they didn’t have any answers for him.”
Williamstown was eventually dismissed for 88 in its second innings but then there were a few nervous moments for the Tigers as they slumped to 4-10 in their second innings.
But a steadying partnership by Leigh Sheridan (4no) and Joshua Maher (9no) took the Tigers to within sight of the win.
Despite the small target, Foster said the Tigers players would remain focused.
“It will be business as usual this week,” he said. “We’ll have a good hit-out on Tuesday and Thursday, stay close this week and just stick together until we get those runs and finish off the year as we should.”
