Wedged in a must-win battle against Northerners with only 169 runs in the bank, some individual stardom from Blake Armstrong helped quell the visitors’ riposte and hoist the Bulldogs within six points of a finals spot.
Armstrong collected 6-22 and claimed a fine run out as Tatura bowled a gallant Northerners out for 156, taking the crucial wicket of Mitch Brett (65) late on to kill the Jets’ momentum.
Rest assured, it eased the nerves at Howley Oval and brought relief to the hosts’ coach Daniel Coombs.
“It was a pretty eventful game. It was very tight with small margins,” Coombs said.
“It was pretty tough in the end, we had them six for 50-odd and I thought we bowled pretty well, pretty consistently.
“Mitch Brett was in, he played and missed a few times and then he started to get going, he was hitting the ball pretty cleanly, and all of a sudden they only needed 40 to win with four wickets left.
“It was looking pretty easy for them, but Blake came back on, got him out and then we picked up a couple of quick ones.”
Requiring 170 to win at the start of play, Northerners had a nightmare start as opener Bayden Hutchins departed for a two-ball duck.
Cohen Hall (12) and Declan Newbound (22) made headway before the latter found Jayden Armstrong’s hands off Coombs’ bowling, and Simon Marshall was the next to go for one.
Enter Brett.
The middle-order maestro shook off a wobbly early patch to tug Northerners towards the line as the Jets went from 6-49 to 6-131, cranking 10 fours and a sole maximum before Armstrong sent him packing.
From there, the Tatura quick bunted Brett from the limelight with another wicket three balls after, and seven overs later, Armstrong chimed in with a sublime direct hit run out from the ropes.
Coombs heaped praise on the rapidly developing youngster, saying he’s beginning to refine his all-round game in the 2023-24 season.
“Over the years, if you look at his stats, he’s probably taken a similar amount of wickets; he probably had a quieter year last year, but other years, he’s been taking quite a lot of wickets,” he said.
“He’s a really good bat as well, his batting is probably the next thing to come on, but he’s one of our key players and he’s always a pretty consistent performer for us.
“It was good to see him cash in and get 6-for and the run out.”
Mathew Macansh removed Dallas Furnell with a caught and bowled effort for the final wicket of the match, but his effort signified more than just a dismissal.
As Coombs rightly indicated, Tatura is still alive in the race for finals cricket.
THE GAME
Tatura 169 (Daniel Coombs 83, Blake Armstrong 21, Stuart Turner 4-42) d Northerners 156 (Mitch Brett 65, Trent Sidebottom 28*, Blake Armstrong 6-22)
STAR PLAYER
Blake Armstrong (Tatura): Tatura’s young gun was at the races against Northerners on Saturday, claiming 6-22 to go along with his knock of 21 on day one. The healthy haul takes Armstrong to 19 wickets for the season.
“We’d like to have another win on the board, but if we lost that game our season’s done so it gives us a chance,” he said.
“We’ve still got three games left, tough games, so we obviously have to try and win as many as we can if we want to get in there.
“There are good sides above us, and I’m pretty sure most of them will keep winning as well, so it’s going to be tight.
“It could go down percentage or something like that, but we’ll just be focusing on the week ahead of us.
“We’ve had two good wins against two good sides in a row, so hopefully we can just keep that momentum going.”
