Yenda’s Justin Wade lets his bat do the talking on day one of the two-dayer against Coro last weekend.
Cricket
YENDA captain Matt Bruce knows his team will never get a better chance than tomorrow to leap out of the first-grade abyss and into the frame for a finals spot.
The Jets resume their two-day clash with Coro on Saturday with the Cougars well and truly on the ropes at 4-12 in pursuit of 159.
It is a commanding position that came about after a perfect first day last weekend now the task is finishing the job and overthrowing one of local cricket's true powerhouse teams, Bruce said.
"The boys were happy after last week. But they know they've got to do that again or it was really all for nothing," he said.
"We haven't been too bad in the last couple of weeks but now more than ever, when the chances come, we've got to take them because we might not get many more.
"If Hanwood win their game that's probably it for us this season, so we've got to be switched on."
The key is striking early, with the new ball only six overs old although those six overs on day one turned out to be more damaging than Bruce could possibly have imagined.
After a Tom Spry-inspired Yenda were bowled out, the Cougars were forced to bat a short spell before stumps that quickly turned into chaos for Coro.
Dean Cunial and Jessie Ryan wreaked havoc, removing key bats Tim Rand, Shane Hutchinson, Justin Moat and Rob Rand in the blink of an eye.
But with the dangerous Peter Taprell and Fletcher Josling at the crease, and Coro captain Haydn Pascoe and Paul Plummer yet to come, Bruce is wary of the Jets getting ahead of themselves.
"Tappy likes to smack them around pretty much straight away. He'll either score a quick 30 or get out quick," he said. "We'll just see what happens. We can't think about it too much.
"If we can keep Fletcher on strike early, anything can happen. There's heaps still left in the ball.
"It doesn't matter if we don't get them all out straight away, but if they only get two or three runs an over we can drag it out."
