Back at it in Cricket Shepparton’s Haisman Shield on Saturday and in need of a win to squeeze into finals contention, the Bombers went ballistic with the blade at home on day one against Old Students.
Waaia won the toss and elected to bat and there to stamp his feet from ball one was Damien Atkins.
The Bombers opener crafted a cool-tempered century in a near 30-over stand at the crease, forging partnerships with the likes of Jordan Cleeland (25) and Mitch Cleeland (40) before losing his wicket on 104 off 87 balls (15 fours, four sixes).
Waaia’s tail was up and later it wagged with aplomb.
Number nine batter Lachlan Henderson blasted 46, while Jesse Trower, back from a glittering display at the Australian Country Cricket Championships, made 29 not out at 11 to lead the Bombers to a gigantic total of 321.
Trower, who snared 15 wickets for Victoria Country during the past week, then continued Waaia’s crusade with a pole with his second ball to leave Old Students languishing at 1-0 after three overs at stumps.
Waaia captain Cleeland — of the Mitch variety — waxed lyrical about the performance on day one and credited Trower for his commitment to return from the Adelaide-hosted ACCL post-haste.
“It was a bit of a funny one. We got off to a hot start and managed to reassure things through the middle and made our way towards the end,” he said.
“Luckily enough, as you can see by the scorecard, we were able to get a late wicket as well.
“He (Trower) obviously had a stellar week or two away, and as soon as he was back he hadn’t missed a beat — albeit he did travel back seven hours to be able to play.
“We were quite thankful we won the toss and he only had to bowl two overs and not 20 like he usually would I guess.”
Cleeland also sent praise the way of Atkins, commending him on his ability against the quicks and for grounding Waaia’s innings from the start.
“He’s been getting us off to a flyer more often than not,” Cleeland said.
“When he’s on, he’s on and yesterday was certainly one of those days.
“The two guys down the order were able to get us from what looked like being a 250-260 score to that 320 that really helped us out in the end.”
From a broader perspective, Waaia’s gleaming start to its first game of 2025 holds plenty of weight in the finals calculation.
The Bombers sit six points off the pace and, given the lack of breathing room within the current top six, a win to start the late-season tilt is essential for Cleeland’s charges.
“We certainly need to be able to close that gap and I suppose, more so than anything, just stripping it right back, going back to basics and worrying about it day by day, hour by hour,” Cleeland said.
“The message was to take things simply and try and really work hard to be able to grind out a score.
“One win gets us hopefully that little bit closer and then we move on to the next week from there.
“But at the minute, we’ve got to worry about getting nine more wickets next week before we go any further than that.”
THE GAME
Waaia 321 (Damien Atkins 104, Lachlan Henderson 46, Liam Callegari 4-87) leads Old Students 1-0 (Sam O’Brien 0*, Jamie Carr 0*, Jesse Trower 1-0)
