Jason Behrendorff took three crucial wickets on the first day of the Bupa Sheffield Shield Final between the Western Warriors and NSW Blues at Manuka Oval.
Canberra-raised Behrendorff finished with 3-41 and his three scalps all came in the final session, following the dismissal of Ryan Carters by Michael Hogan with the final delivery before tea.
NSW lost 5-25, slumping from 1-164 to 6-189, with Behrendorff claiming the key wicket of top scorer Steve Smith for 75 with a sensational caught and bowled.
The Blues are 6-242 at stumps on day one.
“New South Wales got away to a pretty good start being 1-150, we were good enough to get the ball reversing and clawed our way back into the game with a few poles towards the end of the day,” said Behrendorff on the position of the game. “Credit to all the bowlers who stuck to our plans.
“We came out with specific plans after tea and we really executed those which was pleasing.
Behrendorff knows the importance of restricting the New South Wales total tomorrow.
“Anything over 300 in the first innings is a great effort,” he stated. “If we can keep them to under 300 and get a few quick wickets tomorrow morning, we can get right on top.
“If we didn’t get the ball reversing we could’ve been in a bit more strife… it’s definitely got us back in the game.”
“It was huge,” added Behrendorff on Carters’ wicket on the stroke of tea which sparked the loss of 5-25.
“To be fair, it wasn’t the greatest shot and I think Ryan would take that back if he could.
“It was a bit of the pressure we built up led to that shot which was fantastic for our momentum going into tea and coming back afterwards we built that pressure again.”
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
He is also the presenter of the Cricket Badger Radio Show on Radio Yorkshire every Tuesday evening between 7-9pm UK time.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author, a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications and a complete cricket badger!
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