Waaia’s might tested all day long in heavyweight Haisman Shield clash

Tasked with unsettling Waaia’s tail-end and making a statement heading into the reply innings this weekend, Lau delivered all that and more with a two-scalp final spell to finish with five on the day.

It was a banner day for a man used to Haisman success, much like his club, with the Tigers facing a perfectly achievable victory target in this massive clash.

In fact, perhaps serving as a concerted attempt to make The News’ preview of this game look foolish in hindsight, Jarrod Wakeling and Dwain Vidler were the only Central Park bowlers who didn’t claim a victim at Deakin Reserve.

Of course, the ladder-leading Bombers may well have struggled to get this far without the Cleeland pair soaking up just shy of half the day’s deliveries.

Jordan Cleeland took the brunt through the day’s early session, eating up time with aplomb. Subtract his three fours and one six and you would be left with 27 off 122 balls.

Mitch would arrive later with slightly more impetus, anchoring the back half of the day and certainly earning his raise of the bat.

Then, of course, came Lau’s double-act in cleaning up Connor Brown with the final over’s first ball before saving the most impactful for last in his dismissal of Brayden Summerville.

Tyler Larkin’s men had plenty to cheer about heading into the sheds at stumps, but they are anything but out of the woods with their own work to do this week.

For now, though, Mitch Cleeland takes a careful approach.

“I think we’re definitely in the balance. It’s 50-50, I’d say,” Cleeland said.

“We just went in with a mindset of ‘whatever happens, happens’, but we’d have taken 230 if you had offered it to us.

“I think the ball is a little bit in our court, in the sense that if we bowl right we’ll be in a decent position.”

Central Park’s bowling attack has so far packed much more punch than its offence with the willow, but that won’t deter Cleeland’s side from total focus when it comes time to roll the arm over.

After all, Central Park is a side that historically tends not to stay down.

“They’ve got batters that we need to be wary of,” Cleeland said.

“They sort of wait for you to come to them, so we need to execute quite well to prevent them getting off the chain.

“We thought if we had batted our 80 overs, the scoreboard would somewhat look after itself, because the longer you bat, the easier it gets.”

With Jesse Trower due to suit up next week after missing day one, Waaia’s own bowling stocks are set to be significantly bolstered ahead of this challenge.

Cleeland cautions that everyone will be required to put their hands up, though.

“It’s not just a couple of guys that we’re relying on, because we make sure everyone is pulling their weight,” Cleeland said.

“Hopefully, whoever it is can stand up and get the job done.”