Sheffield Shield: Tasmania Tigers stun NSW with outstanding bowling effort
In a game which looked all but destined for a draw, the Tasmania Tigers have pulled off one of the great Sheffield Shield wins. Here’s how it happened.
Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield win against New South Wales might go down as one of the more remarkable efforts when you take in the entire context.
The Tigers took 10 wickets on day four at Cricket Central in Sydney to come away with a victory of an innings and 58 runs.
It came after the visitors experienced flight delays on route to the venue, interrupting their preparation. Then throw in injuries to Aidan O’Connor and Mitch Owen which meant the original 11 was forced into two substitutes.
By the end of day three, both sides had only batted once each. NSW scored 9-391d followed by the Tigers’ effort of 8d-623d with the game appearing set for a draw.
It exploded to life on Tuesday in large part to three wickets in one over from Gabe Bell The hosts suddenly found themselves clinging onto hopes of a draw after being 3-101 after about 40 overs.
Veteran quick Jackson Bird claimed three early wickets while Matt Kuhnemann claimed two of his own.
Riley Meredith claimed the matchwinner when he bowled Jack Edwards.
Tigers skipper Jordan Silk described his side’s effort with the ball as “outstanding”.
“I didn’t think there was a lot there for them. They were able to extract whatever was there and to get 10 wickets was a huge effort,” he said after the game.
“Obviously coming to a place where no other results had been, other than a draw. To get one on the road is always special and we were tested this week.
“We had some interesting things happen, flight delays getting into here, losing two players in the first couple of days. I’m just really happy to how we responded to all that stuff.”
The Tigers monster innings which ended late on day three included three 100s from Caleb Jewell, Tim Ward and Nikhil Chaudhary (the first of his career).
Jewell’s effort came on day two and Silk said it had got a little lost in the high scoring game. While the skipper said Ward had been his side’s “best looking batsman” for the season.
“Having three centurions is pretty rare in a game, let alone an innings,” Silk said.
“It allowed us to do what we did today. We were controlling the game, played them sort of out of it, into a position where they couldn’t win, only force a draw.”
Silk said the Tigers’ “deep squad” had been on display with the result.
“We’re going along well. I don’t really know what to put on it. We’re just getting to work,” he said.
“We obviously lost Beau (Webster) and Weathers (Jake Weatherald) for this game, it’s just that next man up approach.
“There’s guys we believe when they come into our side, they’re coming in ready to perform or they’ve got some First Class experience behind them.
“We just back them in to come in and do their role.”
Tasmania has one game left before the Big Bash break, taking on South Australia from December 5.
Tigers batsmen feast in Shield runfest
Tasmania’s batters got plenty of practice on day three of the Sheffield Shield clash against New South Wales as the game edged closer to a draw.
After entering the day 195 runs behind the hosts, the Tigers eventually declared at 8-623 with a lead of 232 at Cricket Central in Sydney.
Tim Ward (119 runs off 206 deliveries) and Nikhil Chaudhary (163 off 184) joined opener Caleb Jewell as Tigers century makers on the day.
The monster knock was another sign of the promise Chaudhary has shown throughout this season as an all-rounder.
Chaudhary showed plenty of patience in his knock and finished with nine boundaries and five 6s as Tassie showed off their batting depth, especially with Beau Webster and Jake Weatherald on Australian team duties.
For Ward, it was his second century of the summer after reaching triple figures in a one-day game against Queensland.
There were also half-centuries to Brad Hope (91 off 185) and skipper Jordan Silk (56 off 77) as the game slowly moved along towards both sides shaking hands and sharing the points.
Tanveer Sangha was the pick of the bowlers for New South Wales with 4-175 with Oliver Davies (2-105) the only other multiple wicket take.
NSW eventually reached 0-9 at stumps after getting through five overs bowled by Matt Kuhnemann and Bird.
Recently axed Aussie opener Sam Konstas is on six with Ryan Hicks unbeaten on 3.
Tassie leads by 223.
Jewell lifts Tigers as Tassie surprises with shock opener
The seventh century of Caleb Jewell’s Sheffield Shield career has put Tasmania in position to earn at least a Sheffield Shield draw against New South Wales.
The Tigers reached 2-196 at stumps on day two, still 195 runs behind the Blues, as Jewell crafted a patient 102 runs from 162 deliveries.
It came after NSW declared at 9-391 earlier in the day at Cricket Central in Sydney.
Spinner Matt Kuhnemann was a surprise opening partner for Jewell as the pair put on a 56-run stand to start the Tasmanian innings.
Kuhnemann was out for 21 off 53 after tickling one down the leg side to Liam Hatcher which was comfortably taken by Josh Phillipe behind the stumps.
The Aussie international is no stranger to opening the batting having done so against India in March 2023 with Travis Head after an injury to Usman Khawaja.
Kuhnemann found his way to the top of the order after a double injury blow on the opening day. Aidan O’Connor suffered a concussion while Mitch Owen was withdrawn with an undisclosed injury. They were replaced by Jackson Bird and Charlie Wakim.
Tim Ward (53 not out) and Brad Hope (8 not out) were at the crease.
The Blues were led by Kurtis Patterson with 80 while Riley Meredith was the pick of the bowlers with 3-77 off 21 overs.
Ash Gardner’s three-wicket over stuns Hurricanes
AN Ash Gardner masterclass brought the ladder-leading Hobart Hurricanes crashing back to earth at Ninja Stadium on Saturday as the Sydney Sixers captain cut a swathe through the home side’s late order.
The Hurricanes had their 148-run chase under control with captain Elyse Villani anchoring a composed pursuit.
Then Gardner came back into the Sixers’ attack with an over that redeemed her after an expensive start with the ball and derailed the Cane Train.
She claimed the wickets of Hayley Silver-Holmes (six runs) and Molly Strano (0) in consecutive balls, narrowly missed a hat-trick, and then took Lauren Smith (1) all in the 18th over.
It wrecked Hobart’s chase, handed them their first loss of the season and left them with questions to answer before they face Melbourne Stars on Wednesday.
“We’re disappointed with the outcome but assessment-wise we had good periods with the powerplay and the start from Lizzy Lee with the way she took on the new ball, and a brave option for our girls in the surge to score 1-29 in those two overs,” said assistant-batting coach Graeme Beghin.
“We struggled to adjust to the change-ups and adapting to the conditions, and under pressure a couple of poor decisions left us short.”
The Sixers made a strong start to their innings, with Ellyse Perry hitting a brisk 28 at the top of the order with an opening stand of 71 with Sophia Dunkley, whose 50 off 46 was the best score of the game.
Sydney was 1-79 off the first 10 overs, but hit the skids after Perry departed losing nine wickets for 72 runs.
Alyssa Healey’s form slum continued, out for two after she skied one to Nicola Carey on the mid-on boundary.
Gardner also had a good day with the bat, moving the score along in the middle order with her 25 off 18, and Maitlan Brown’s 19 off 14 was the only other Sydney batter to score in the double figures.
Erin Burns, Emma Manix-Geeves, Caoimhe Bray, Lauren Kua and Lauren Cheatle scored a combined six runs – they were outscored by the team’s nine extras – as Hurricane Heather Graham took a game-best 4-29.
Tasmanian local footy club makes shock coaching switch
