Winning the toss and electing to bat turned out to be a disastrous decision for the South Australians. The tone of the innings was set when in the third over, Jake Weatherald was run out for a diamond duck, thanks to a sharp piece of fielding from Mac Wright. By the time the Redbacks had descended to 4-38 in the ninth over – with Harry Nielsen (19), Travis Head (12) and Alex Carey (4) all back in the sheds – the situation was dire.
After having to be omitted from selection for Wednesday’s match against Victoria due to somewhat bizarre circumstances, Riley Meredith relished being back in the Tigers camp, finishing with figures of 2-22 off his seven overs bowled, including that of Redbacks’ top scorer in Callum Ferguson (26) caught and bowled. It turned out to be a Player of the Match-winning performance.
Despite bowling almost 100 overs before claiming his first wicket in Tigers colours, Tom Andrews was keen to prove his Player of the Match performance on Wednesday was far from a fluke, bowling the most over of any Tasmanian bowlers (nine) and finishing with stats of 3-29.
Meanwhile Jarrod Freeman – who’s selection in today’s starting XI means he will now be upgraded from a rookie contract – had the best economy in the first innings (2.83), bowling six overs to finish with 2-17.
In the end, the Redbacks were all out for just 104 runs, with the 10th wicket falling at the end of the 32nd over. It was the third lowest total from a side who had won the toss and chosen to bat in the past five years.
Tigers opening pair of Caleb Jewell and Tim Paine seemed keen to dispel any doubt that the Junction Oval wicket was a difficult one to bat on, racing through 17 overs without the loss of a wicket. Paine brought up his half century after hitting Head over long on for a spectacular six, only to be dismissed four balls later for 54, with scores tied at 104.
Jake Doran was next to the crease, and hit a boundary off the only ball he faced to secure the win for the Tigers.
Tasmania finished on 1-108 after just 17.2 overs. Jewell finished unbeaten on 43 runs off 37 deliveries.
The Tigers will return to Hobart tomorrow ahead of their next block of domestic fixtures against the New South Wales Blues.
Their next Marsh Cup clash will be against NSW on Thursday 18 March at Blundstone Arena, with the first ball due to be bowled at 10am.