After last week’s heroic win over Victoria in the Shield, Tasmania travel to Adelaide to take on South Australia in what is poised to have major impacts on the Shield table.
Tasmania’s last match against South Australia was one for the ages, as the match went into the last half an hour of day four, as the SACA’s bowled Tasmania out two runs short of their 429-run target.
The Tigers come into this match in good form, following their huge win against Victoria, where fast bowlers Gabe Bell and Kieran Elliott put a serious shift in bowling a combined 60 overs in the second innings after fellow paceman Lawrance Neil-Smith went down with a hamstring injury.
Elliot was the pick of the Tasmanian bowlers for the match, taking 10 wickets across both innings, including 6/84 in the second dig, while Bell was unlucky not to take more wickets considering the number of balls he had beating the bat.
Without the batting of Jake Weatherald, the Tigers would have struggled to stay in this match, as ‘Weathers’ nearly carried his bat scoring 155 runs before getting out as the tenth wicket in the Tasmanian innings.
Weatherald now leads all run scorers in the Sheffield Shield for this season with 620 runs.
Following unavailability to three of the Tigers mainstays in their usual XI, debuts were handed to Aidan O’Connor and Raf MacMillan, who both repaid the faith that the coaching staff put in the youngsters, as they took multiple wickets and scored vital runs.
For the Tigers next match in Adelaide, the Tigers will be buoyed by the return of three of their key stars with Matt Kuhnemann and Beau Webster returning from Australian duties, and Mitch Owen arriving back in the country after the SAT20 competition.
Webster and Owen played on Thursday night in the One Day Cup, and along with Kuhnemann, will have Tasmanian fans excited to see the trio return to play for the Tasmanian baggy green.
Also joining the Tasmanian squad for the match in Adelaide is Riley Meredith, who was managed for the last match after heavy workloads in BBL|14.
Tasmania's thirteen-man squad for tomorrow's match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval consists of:
Jordan Silk (C)
Gabe Bell
Jake Doran
Kieran Elliott
Brad Hope
Riley Meredith
Aidan O'Connor
Mitch Owen
Nivethan Radhakrishnan
Tim Ward
Jake Weatherald
Beau Webster
MATCH DETAILS
South Australia vs Tasmanian Tigers
Tuesday 18 February - Friday 21 February 2025
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
First ball: 11.00 am AEDT
Broadcast: Kayo Sports & cricket.com.au