THE identity of the person who brought the secret sauce to Irymple and Gol Gol’s tea break spread last week remains a mystery, but if the Swallows figure it out, they have a job for life.
A two-over spell post-break turned the match at Henshilwood Oval on its head.
After reaching 4/120, Gol Gol lost four wickets for no runs and eventually fell for 130, their lowest total of the season.
Irymple skipper Mark Thomson (6/46) and young gun Bailey Anderson (4/19) ripped through the order, with the former in particular playing the ironman role, bowling 28.3 consecutive overs (or 171 deliveries) which also included 12 maidens.
While they lost three wickets to start their innings, Thomson is confident the remaining batsmen can chase down the required 94 runs to give Gol Gol their first home and away loss of the campaign.
With only Saturday’s action to go before finals, the result won’t have a huge bearing on the season itself, but a confidence boost for the Swallows could do them the world of good before next week’s semi against Nichols Point.
“It started off probably like any other day for them at about 1/90-odd early and we managed to take a couple wickets after that, but we came out (after tea) like it was a new game,” Thomson said.
“I don’t know what was in the food at the tea break, but it worked for us.
“Our bowling attack in general is pretty even across the board and we’re able to build pressure with all of our bowlers. It’s one of our biggest strengths, that we can continue to push back on the batsmen without really giving them a release.”
While Thomson was the main wicket taker, he praised the work of Anderson, who has taken 12 wickets in his past five innings.
“The last few weeks, he’s been very good and that’s two ‘four-fors’ in a row for him,” he said.
“It feels like he’s a lot older than he is and has been around a lot longer because he’s already played a lot of First Division cricket so young. I think he’s still only 19 so he can still improve further was is awesome for us.”
Thomson said the team’s priority is to secure the win and a home final against Point, but they would be keeping an eye on their finals opponents as well.
“We know Point are an explosive batting team, so we’ll definitely keep track of how they are going against Merbein, but we also have to win our game first,” he said.
“Those few wickets lost definitely soured the afternoon for us and the game is probably sitting 50/50 at the moment.
“I think we have the depth in our middle order to chase down the 90 or so runs we need, and I’ve got belief in the boys in the middle.
“At times we in the past we haven’t had that consistency in the middle order but I think everyone there has stood up with a 40 or 50 or more at some stage during the season.”
Action continues from 1pm at Henshilwood Oval on Saturday.
