A stripped back-to-basics approach to grind reigning premier Lindisfarne's attack out laid the platform for the Greater Northern Raiders to pull off an upset next week and a first win of the season.
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The epitome of the gritty fightback from last week's inability to save the match was opener Brodie Hayes scoring back-to-back centuries.
"I didn't see that coming to be honest. I've never done it before. I felt like I've been hitting the ball well," he said.
The Burnie Hurricanes star had been forced to miss that 163-run loss to Kingborough, but on Saturday showed real resolve to carry the bat for 99 overs with 108 from 302 balls.
The unflappable knock that included 11 boundaries ensured the Raiders crept first, then accelerated before steadying to 5-214 at stumps.
Their numbers early were not pretty, but the game plan was simple after the home side batted double the number of overs than in any of their past five appearances.
"The wicket seemed really good, it did a little bit early, but the aim for the whole team was just to bat time and the runs would eventually come later on," Hayes said.
The Raiders were 19 runs after 17 overs, 29 runs after 29 overs, 52 runs after 43 overs and 70 runs after 50 overs. It took 65 overs to get to two runs an over in an hour shift.
Strokemaker Jake Williams sacrificed his natural flair for a greater cause, the No.3 scratching seven off 70 balls.
But the only numbers that coach Andrew Gower cared most about was remaining two wickets down at the halfway point of the day.
"The wickets were the key and we spoke at the start that we wanted to bat the day out. To be only two wickets down, it set us up for the remainder of the day," Gower said.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
"The longer you can bat, you can cash in and we made 100 in the second session.
"I don't know all of those numbers, but we made 70 or maybe 80 in the last session.
"It worked out nicely because we know if we wear teams down with our game, you can post a good total."
Lachie Newland (21 off 81) and Brandon King (31 off 86) got the memo, but Rhys French threw it away in his near-a-run-ball 29 and was caught out off a slow full toss.
Still credit to the Lightning: they did tie the batters down.
None more so than George Town and Mowbray's Jarrod Freeman, the offspinner was near unplayable and he conceded just the one four in 28 overs to finish up with 2-32.
"If you look at their attack, we know they are a quality side - they won the championship last year," Gower said.
"We just went out there to play our game. We wanted them to bowl at us rather than if they want to bowl that fourth or fifth stump line, we'll just leave it. They were very patient and continued to bowl that line and length."
The performance at the NTCA No.2 Ground could also be the turning point of a frustrating early campaign.
"I thought the guys really applied what we would hope they would do for the whole year," Gower said.
"We know we've done the work [in preseason]; it's just all mental now and being able to play how we want to and not be dictated to."
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