Coulter-Nile rocks Tigers
Nathan Coulter-Nile has used bat and ball to continue his irrepressible momentum towards Australian honours and steer WA into a dominant position at the WACA Ground.
The dynamic all-rounder thumped a career-high 64 in the morning and then rattled the Tigers batting line-up with his pace and hostility as the Warriors neared an opening round Sheffield Shield victory.
Coulter-Nile’s three strikes, with George Bailey and Evan Gulbis undone by bounce and Dom Michael by pace, saw Tasmania slide to 242 all out in their second innings.
The Tigers set WA 105 to win and will require a calamity to strike the Warriors today to keep them in the game.
WA lost first innings centurion Cam Bancroft for one in reaching 1-2 at stumps.
Coulter-Nile hammered the first delivery of the day to the midwicket fence on the way to guiding WA to 353 – a first innings lead of 138 – and later used genuine pace to claim 3-34 and wreck Tasmania’s innings.
Only Ed Cowan, whose splendid even 100 was his first century at the WACA and a masterclass in how to play the local conditions, defied the WA attack long enough to have a significant impact.
Cowan struck 17 boundaries during 223 minutes in the middle, many of the strokes precise cover drives that stung the WA bowlers for over-pitching.
The Warriors gather to celebrate the wicket of Tim Paine. Pic: Getty Images
It was his 10th ton for the Tigers and came after he contemplated returning to Sydney during the off-season and commuting to State matches.
But his departure at 173, caught in close from the bowling of his Ashes teammate Ashton Agar, prompted a clatter of wickets and Coulter-Nile’s potential match-winning surge.
It had been a day for the alsos, the nearlies and the once-weres until Coulter-Nile’s burst to prominence.
Cowan and Agar were the early victims of last year’s Ashes failures.
Cowan lasted one Test, Agar, whose spectacular first at Trent Bridge was Cowan’s last, just one more.
The changing of the guard under new coach Darren Lehmann saw both players discarded and the building of a new structure though the dry heat of Arabia has exposed more than the odd crack in the past two weeks.
Cowan may not be recalled to Test ranks but Agar has done his cause little harm in the early part of the season.
Tall and lithe and moving with the athletic grace that marked Brendon Julian’s career, the left-armer is bowling with greater fluency and rhythm than at any other stage of his three seasons with the Warriors. He finished with two wickets.
Ed Cowan gave Tasmania hope of a draw with his hundred. But his departure prompted a clatter of wickets. Pic: Getty Images
