Loving life at the top: Waaia openers Sam Trower and Brayden Carey had a blast in the middle against Northerners.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Waaia openers Sam Trower and Brayden Carey went to town against Northerners on day one of their two-day clash against the Jets.
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The pair cranked the ball to all parts of Tallygaroopna Recreation Reserve on Saturday, putting on 278 runs for the first wicket, the Bombers eventually cruising to 6-344 at stumps.
Trower was the first to go for 126, stumped in the 69th over, while Carey followed three overs later on 128, setting an elite platform for the incoming bats to score free of restraint.
South African duo Reinhart Engler (41) and Quinton Venter (25) obliged and added to Waaia’s stack of runs, while bowler Declan Newbound stole back some pride for Northerners with four wickets.
Mad dash: Waaia’s Brayden Carey.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
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Safe as houses: Northerners’ wicket keeper Cohan Hall.
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Rechelle Zammit
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Punch and run: Waaia’s Sam Trower.
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Rechelle Zammit
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Rifle it in: Northerners’ Zavier Davidson.
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Rechelle Zammit
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Bat on ball: Waaia’s Brayden Carey.
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Rechelle Zammit
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Fizz it down: Northerners’ Jake Davidson.
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Rechelle Zammit
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On alert: Northerners’ Bayden Hutchins.
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Rechelle Zammit
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Give it a shine: Northerners’ Trent Sidebottom.
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Rechelle Zammit
Now, with a massive total to defend, Waaia skipper Mitch Cleeland gave plaudits to his two star performers for giving the Bombers the upper hand.
“It was a perfect scenario for us. They got us off to a really good start and both batted really well,” Cleeland said.
“It makes a world of difference when two guys go on and get really big scores like that and it’s been a little while coming I suppose.
“We knew they had the ability to go and do that for us, but to see it happen was a great scenario for us.”
Surprisingly, of the 278 runs put on by Trower and Carey, not even half came in boundaries.
Only one ball went over the fence by industry of the latter to go along with his 14 fours, while Trower chipped in with 16 boundaries, showing the measured nature of their innings.
Northerners rued a litany of missed chances, dropping several catches in the field to gift Waaia’s openers a lifeline ― but it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
Cleeland commented on the lines and lengths bowled by Northerners, crediting the opposition for their vigilance despite conceding a fair share of runs.
“They’ve been going quite well and they actually bowled well too,” he said.
“If they fielded well, they dropped a few chances unfortunately for them, it would’ve been a bit of a different scenario.
“Their bowling was really good, they set good fields and bowled to those plans, so you can see why they’ve been winning games of cricket and are probably just on the wrong side of the luck ledger I suppose.”
Newbound was the Jets’ best with 4-61, while Josh Sidebottom and Stuart Turner snagged one wicket apiece.
Though Northerners only sit two points shy of the top six, they will need their best batting display of the year to trump an unbeaten Waaia with bat in hand.
