Shaun Tait couldn't believe his eyes. The over 150 km thunderbolt that he had hurled down had gone flying over the mid-wicket boundary into the crowd. Davey Jacobs, the Warriors skipper, had walked back and across the off stump, and flicked it over the boundary with ridiculous ease.
That audacious stroke sort of set the tone for the game. While the Warriors went on the rampage, the disciplined Australian was for once was rattled, left wondering what hit them.
The Warriors skipper, however, went about his job in a nonchalant fashion -- pulling, driving, sweeping, reverse sweeping and what not to keep the scoreboard galloping.
And it didn’t help South Australia much even when Jacobs occasionally slowed down, as they were under equally ferocious attack from the other end. Colin Ingram was actually the one to start the offence. He looted 18 runs off left arm spinner Aaron O’Brian in the second over of the innings.
The onslaught set in panic among the Redbacks.The bowlers bowled a bit too much on the pads, helping Jacobs help himself to some easy boundaries while the fielders fumbled and dropped a few catches.
The Redbacks, however, pulled back things a bit once they managed to send back Jacobs (61) after he had put on 104 run-partnership for the second wicket with Ingram. Part time bowler Daniel Harris lured him into skying the ball, and then pouched it. The wicket lifted the sagging spirits of the Aussies, and they fought back to stop the Warriors from batting them out of the game. Ingram (46) fell soon after, and Harris picked struck two more blows to further peg back the Warriors.
{{/usCountry}}The Redbacks, however, pulled back things a bit once they managed to send back Jacobs (61) after he had put on 104 run-partnership for the second wicket with Ingram. Part time bowler Daniel Harris lured him into skying the ball, and then pouched it. The wicket lifted the sagging spirits of the Aussies, and they fought back to stop the Warriors from batting them out of the game. Ingram (46) fell soon after, and Harris picked struck two more blows to further peg back the Warriors.
{{/usCountry}}The initial damage done by Jacobs and Ingram was, however, too much to make up for, and the subsequent small contributions were good enough to help the Warriors set up a challenging total of 175 runs.
The target is not unachievable, especially given the strong batting of the Australian side. But the Warriors boast of a strong attack, and the Redbacks will need to be at their very best to get to this total. Keep your fingers crossed.