On Saturday for Waaia, that man was Reinhardt Engler.
Engler embodied unbridled class and grace as he carved up Katandra’s bowling brigade like Christmas ham, powering the Bombers to a mammoth total of 6-221 as the side eventually knocked over the Eagles by 25 runs to hold firm at the ladder’s crest.
Yet, his performance wasn’t perfect.
Engler came so close to his maiden Haisman Shield century, foiled two runs shy of a rapid-fire ton by Scott Richardson.
But by then Mitch Cleeland’s boys had flicked the scoreboard at a stupendous rate and were well on their way to winning the game.
Waaia won the toss and elected to bat, starting out with a hiss and a roar as the opening pair of Brayden Carey (30) and Sam Trower (39) paved the way forward.
While Carey and Trower’s innings eventually met their end before a bat was raised, Engler made hay while the sun shined as he bashed and crashed his way to 50.
He wasn’t done there ― far from it.
By the time Waaia’s magic import was forced to walk, Engler had amassed his 98 from 82 balls, including eight fours and five sixes.
Cleeland was ever grateful for his anchor’s innings.
“He batted beautifully; even from the word go, he didn’t really look like getting out the whole time,” Cleeland said.
“He was faultless until, unfortunately, the last hurdle that he couldn’t quite get over, but his 98 was as good as a hundred to us, so we were super happy; it helped us a lot.”
Cleeland (27 off 30) then came in and swung hard to put a sweetener on the Bombers’ batting barrage, with Andrew Riordan (2-31) the pick of a wicket-starved Katandra attack.
As far as starts go, the Eagles couldn’t have asked for a worse one.
Opener Ben Pedretti departed for a duck as he snicked off a Jesse Trower delivery in the third over, leaving Katandra reeling at 1-1.
From there, Riordan and Kieran Collins dug their side out of a potential hole and even when both were gone and the Eagles sat on 3-97, the game was far from out of their hands.
But when Jesse Trower hit his stride, it suddenly was.
Katandra lost 5-32 in the back end of the chase with Trower sending a trio of Eagles packing, all but wrapping up the match in the final few overs and pushing Waaia 12 points clear at the top of the Haisman Shield.
“It was obviously super important in terms of timing the end of season and ensuring that we’ve got all our guns firing at the minute,” Cleeland said.
THE GAME
Waaia 6-221 (Reinhardt Engler 98, Sam Trower 39, Andrew Riordan 2-31) d Katandra 196 (Andrew Riordan 48, Hadleigh Sirett 31, Jesse Trower 4-33)
STAR PLAYER
Reinhardt Engler (Waaia): The Bombers’ super South African was at the races against Katandra. Though he wasn’t able to raise the bat for a maiden Haisman Shield century, Engler’s knock of 98 and two wickets went a long way towards Waaia winning the match.
“We’re extremely happy albeit with an eye towards the end of the season and knowing there’s still a lot of work to do I suppose.”
Cleeland detailed his side’s focus points in the final month of the home and away season, hoping his Bombers can refine their game as they stare down the barrel of knockout cricket.
“It’s probably ensuring our consistency,“ he said.
“We’ve been good so far, but we can’t afford to drop off and just maintaining a level that will hold us in good stead for the rest of the season.
“We’ve probably had a few blemishes in our fielding performances so far, but if we can add that string to our bow and get that tied down I think it will probably hold us in good stead.”
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