PIZZA Kitchen Tigers have put themselves back into calculations for the McDonald’s T20 grand final, following dominant wins over Murrabit and Stihl Shop Roodogs on Saturday.
Aggressive opener Cooper Fox proved the difference, returning to form to top-score in both matches.
After belting an impressive 88 not out from just 33 balls against the Blues, Fox’s 47 from 25 balls against the Roodogs had a similar effect, both knocks ensuring the Tigers passed the target with overs to spare.
Pizza Kitchen Tigers captain Darren Rushton was full of praise for his dynamic opener who had a slow start to the season.
“(Fox) had a good day out, he was seeing them well and it was good to see him batting with confidence again, as we are a much better side when he is at his best,” Rushton said.
“I think he might have made only 30-odd runs before the T20 competition, but he blew it out of the park on Saturday and was a massive reason why we batted as well as we did.
“Having Cooper and Conner (Fletcher) at the top of the order gives us plenty of confidence, especially in this format.
“They’ve been getting us off to a really good start, Conner is hitting the ball really well now and helps give us a good platform for the rest of us to come in and bat with confidence and keep the foot down.”
The Tigers were able to chase down Murrabit’s competitive score of 140 in just 8.5 overs, at an incredible run rate of 16 runs per over.
Against Stihl Shop Roodogs, the Tigers chased down 164 in the 15th over, thanks to Fox (47), Rushton (41 not out) and Fletcher (31).
“It was good to see our batters performing, because that’s where we see our strength,” Rushton said.
“Our bowling probably isn’t quite at the same level as our batting, but we know if we bowl well enough and keep teams to a chaseable score, then anything is achievable with our batting line-up.
“That’s why we won the toss and chose to bowl and that will be the plan going forward from now on, we’re just going to back ourselves in to chase whatever score is posted.”
The loss was the Roodogs’ second of the day, after losing to Are Able Bulldogs in the opening match at Riverside Park.
Mitch Seton-Stewart (61) and Kade Benfield (50 not out) helped the Roodogs post 7/130 batting first, however, the unbeaten Bulldogs chased down the target with seven balls to spare.
Jack Shannahan (44) and Bailey Codling (34) led with the bat for the winning side.
Murrabit hosted Phones R Us Blues, who chased down the home team’s target of 128 in the 16th over after Stuart Patterson blasted an unbeaten 90 from just 60 balls.
