WANDELLA returned to the winners’ list – and the top four – thrashing Woorinen by eight wickets on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers started in blistering fashion, Darren Rushton (41) and Connor Fletcher (29) slamming 58 runs from the first seven overs.
By the 22nd over, however, they were bowled out for 114.
Kaine O’Connell (65 not out) and Peter Moore (34 not out) guided the Bombers home also in the 22nd over, having lost two wickets.
Wandella captain Ryan Barnes was hopeful his team had turned the corner, having bounced back from being outclassed by St Mary’s Tyntynder a week earlier.
“Especially after the way we played the previous week, to get the job done against a quality side like Woorinen was very pleasing,” Barnes said.
“(Woorinen) had us on the back foot early on and we were starting to think we might have been in for a long day at the office, but we managed to peg them back a bit and slowed the run rate down a bit and they almost threw their wickets away at times.
“As a captain, it was everything you want to see from your team.
“Our boys just assessed the situation, kept bowling to our strengths and we ended up coming out the other side.
“We managed to execute exactly what we practice relentlessly at training, just continuously bowling your line and length, and be patient and wait for the batsman to make the mistake.”
Barnes proved the pick of Wandella’s bowlers, claiming 4/16 from seven overs, while Peter Moore (3/25 from 6.5 overs) and Ethan McKnight (3/32 from five overs) also produced strong performances with the ball.
Wandella remain in the race for the Kookaburra Cup final, although they need to beat RSL and rely on one of St Mary’s Tyntynder or Nyah District to lose this Saturday.
For Barnes, the real test for the Bombers would be in reducing the gap between their best and worst.
“We’ve seen the same side, two weeks in a row, play completely different cricket and get a completely different outcome,” he said.
“It’s a matter of building from where we finished on Saturday and moving forward with the knowledge and the lessons that we’ve learned.”
