MILDURA West acting captain Joe Fleri has said he believes a win over quality opposition like Gol Gol would be huge for his side’s season.
Fifth-placed West have been set a target of 228 to defeat the Gol Gol at Alcheringa Oval, and victory in the final round before the festive break could potentially push them into the top four.
It’s a crowded ladder from second to fifth, and with Coomealla Wentworth a strong chance for an outright victory this round, they also rejoin the final calculation.
West’s objective this week will be made tougher by the absence of captain-coach Chris Williams, but Fleri believes his side has good batting depth,
“If guys can get in they just need to be able to cash in,” the wicket-keeper said.
“We’ve had a lot of guys who have made starts this year but not too many have gone to turn 20s and 30s into big scores.
“We’ve dropped a couple of games we wouldn’t have liked to so if we could get a win over a quality team like Gol Gol it would be huge.
“We know they’ll bowl a really disciplined line and and length and won’t be easy to get away, but we think we bat pretty deep so hopefully guys will have an opportunity to go big.”
West fought back well with the ball after Shacaya Thomas and Greg Beresi shared a 75-run opening stand, while Thomas and Wade Hancock pushed the score to 1/145.
The home side then lost 3/1 as their final nine wickets fell for 82 runs.
English import Jasper Presswell was impressive again with 3/30 from 16 overs, Williams took 3/45, while Greg Lewis has made a habit of taking wickets late in the innings, with another 2/10.
“It was a tough old day out there,” Fleri said.
“Gol Gol have been a quality side for a long time but we just kept pegging away at them and working really hard.
“It was a really good effort from the bowlers and in the field, and in the end it turned out to be a pretty decent innings for us.
“Jasper is a ripper, if you ask him to bowl 30 overs straight he’ll do it. He just runs in all day and just has so much energy out there, and is constantly asking question of the batters.
“Willo as well is someone you can always rely on coming in and holding up an end and taking wickets when needed.”
