Experienced duo Michael Klinger and Adam Voges (main photo) have guided the Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors to a seven-wicket victory over Tasmania in the opening round of the Bupa Sheffield Shield on Monday.
Chasing just 105 for victory, the Warriors were looking shaky at 3-11 after opener Cameron Bancroft fell late on day three and Marcus Harris and Jason Behrendorff were dismissed early on Monday.
WA would have been 4-20 had Evan Gulbis held on to a simple catch at second slip when Voges was yet to score. The fluffed chance let the Warriors off the hook, and both Klinger and Voges made Tasmania pay dearly for the mistake.
Klinger finished unbeaten on 56, while Voges added 27 not out in a 94-run, fourth-wicket stand. WA also claimed 2.67 batting and bowling bonus points for the match, as well as the six points for outright victory. Tasmania collected just 1.15 bonus points for the match.
Michael Klinger (Photo Credit: WACA)
Klinger has made an instant impact since crossing from South Australia to the Warriors at the end of last summer. The 34-year-old played a key role in the Warriors’ one-day title-winning campaign, cracking 96 in the final win over NSW. And his composure at the top of the order was crucial after Bancroft (1), Harris (9) and Behrendorff (0) all fell cheaply.
“You want to do well early, to get that respect from the other guys,” Klinger said. “It’s been great to contribute to the team winning.”
Warriors coach Justin Langer said he was still pinching himself that he was able to snare the services of Klinger to replace the retired Marcus North.
“His game is really suited to batting at the WACA,” Langer said. “He’s shown how valuable he is. He got 96 in the one-day final. To have that sort of experience is gold for us.”
Tigers coach Dan Marsh said his side’s batting totals of 215 and 242 simply weren’t good enough.
“We won the toss on a nice wicket but to make 215 in the first innings - it was nowhere near enough runs unfortunately,” Marsh said. “From that point on we were chasing our tails. We had a little sniff this morning. If we had taken that catch it would have been four down and might have been interesting. But at the end of the day we didn’t bowl well enough either.”
Round two of the Shield will feature day-night matches, with WA to host Queensland, Tasmania to play Victoria at Blundstone Arena, and South Australia to lock horns with NSW at Adelaide Oval.
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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