With captain, Matthew Wade, winning the toss and sending the home side into bat, things started off well for the visitors, when young gun, Josh Philippe, was dismissed for just four runs in the first over the innings. When another star retuning from international duties - D’Arcy Short – followed four overs later for eight, the Tigers had the West Australians in a difficult position at 2-29.
WA captain, Mitch Marsh, was next to the crease however, and he went about settling the situation for his team. Combining with opener, Sam Whiteman, the pair put together a 99-run partnership, before Marsh was dismissed by a ripping catch from Caleb Jewell, off the bowling of Tom Andrews. Marsh’s 63 runs at a strike rate of 131.35 would go on to be the highest individual total of the day.
Whilst no one went on to make a huge individual total, lots of handy contributions ensured the home side still posted a competitive total. Whiteman (59 runs off 62 balls), Josh Inglis (60 off 48) plus Marsh were all notable contributors with the bat, whilst Jason Behrendorff’s unbeaten 35 runs off just 33 balls at the tail end of the innings saw the WA total sneak past 300 before the 10th wicket fell in the 49th over.
In the end, the home team were dismissed for 307, with Jackson Bird (3-80 off 9.3 overs), Sam Rainbird (3-58 off 10), Tom Rogers (2-41 off nine) and Andrews (2-57) all taking wickets with the ball.
Unfortunately, the Tigers innings with the bat started off similarly to that of the West Australians, when Ben McDermott was dismissed on the second ball of the innings for a golden duck. Skipper, Wade, was next to the crease and knowing his side had to get a lot of runs in 40 overs in order to make the Grand Final, started teeing off. He made it to 19 – at a strike rate of 135.71 – before he too came unstuck, and was bowled by Behrendorff.
When remaining opener, Caleb Jewell, was also dismissed at the hands of Behrendorff, not only had the Tigers lost 3-39 inside seven overs, but Behrendorff also had three wickets to his name.
Unfortunately, the situation did not improve for the Tigers. Most of the middle order had promising starts, only for their big-hitting tactics – with the hope of pulling off a miracle – combined with some excellent West Australian bowling – to bring them unstuck. Whilst their run rate may have been on target for victory, their loss of wickets was at a rate far to great to overcome. In the end, the Tigers were bowled out for 148 runs inside 25 overs, sending the West Australians through to the Grand Final.
Beau Webster was again the standout for the Tigers with the bat, easily top-scoring in the second innings, and finishing unbeaten on 51 runs off just 37 balls. His innings featured seven boundaries, including one maximum.
FULL SCORECARD: cricket.com.au
The conclusion of today’s match officially marks the end of the marathon 2020-21 domestic season for all Tigers teams.