Tigers maul lacklustre Warriors
Tasmania started its KFC Big Bash campaign in emphatic style, crushing Western Australia by 63 runs at the WACA.
The Bulletin by Andrew Fuss
30-Dec-2010
Tasmania 6 for 189 (Paine 71, Birt 43) beat Western Australia 126 (Voges 38, Naved-ul-Hasan 3-19) by 63 runs
Tasmania has started its Twenty20 Big Bash campaign in emphatic style, crushing Western Australia by 63 runs at the WACA.
George Bailey won the toss for the Tigers and had no hesitation batting first on a picture-perfect WACA deck. Opener and man-of-the-match Tim Paine anchored the innings with a level-headed 71 off 57 balls and was well supported by the brutal Travis Birt, who hit four sixes on his way to a 22-ball 43.
The pair shared an 86-run partnership and combined for eight of the Tigers' 11 sixes - hitting five of them in a ten-ball burst between overs 9.4 and 11.1.
Seamer Mick Lewis - who at 36 came out of retirement to play for the Warriors in the Big Bash - did his best for the hosts with three wickets, but his four overs were costly, going for 46 runs.
Fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile's third over looked to have swung the momentum back towards the Warriors, taking the crucial wicket of Birt and conceding just three runs, but cameos from Bailey (20 off 13) and Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate (12 off 9) lifted the Tigers to an imposing total of 189 from their 20 overs.
The Warriors appeared to have the firepower capable of chasing down the target, but they got off to a horror start when Shaun Marsh was trapped in front for a duck by offspinner Jason Krejza on the third ball of the innings. Pinch-hitter Luke Ronchi soon followed, chipping a drive to Birt at cover, and the Warriors chase went from bad to worse when ten Doeschate picked up the wickets of Chris Gayle and Luke Pomersbach in his only over.
From there, the hosts never looked likely to win, limping to a disappointing 126 all out with an over to spare. The spin of Krejza (2 for 24) and Doherty (2 for 22) worked a treat for the Tigers, who had gambled playing two spinners on the bouncy WACA pitch, while the Warriors had left out their only recognised spinner in Aaron Heal - a move which proved costly.
Tasmania has an eight-day break before it travels to the Gabba to play the Bulls, while Western Australia will face New South Wales in Sydney on January 9.