Starting day two of its round seven contest against Tocumwal on the back foot, the Hawks flipped the game on its head to start the new year with a win.
Following Tocumwal’s first innings score of 191 and sitting on 6-41 to start the day, the visiting Barooga made its way to a solid score of 143 thanks to a Gow 72.
The side continued this momentum with the ball in hand, dismissing Tocumwal for 38 in its second innings, with Gow (5-9), Kale Watkins (3-17) and Brendan Lewis (1-2) all in on the action.
With a grandstand finish now in sight, another clinic from Gow (56) with the bat in hand would see the side outscore the Bloods with eight wickets to spare.
Reflecting on the contest, Barooga captain Watkins said the side was upbeat heading into the game.
“We sort of toughed it out a bit when we first batted, we just tried to get through a few overs and Riley Gow was just the star of the show,” Watkins said.
“Even though we were behind in the first innings, because he scored so quickly and he scored that many runs it just gave us the opportunity to have some confidence and when we came to bowl we were really energetic and confident off the back of Riley’s innings while the game was still up for grabs.
“It was one of the best individual performances I’ve ever seen, it was a really tricky wicket to bat on and he smashed 72 and ran himself out and then he’s come out and smashed another 50.”
Set to face off with Cobram at the Cobram Showgrounds this weekend, Watkins said the Hawks knew it was going to be a challenge.
“We know Cobram is the yard stick but as I’ve said all year we just want to keep improving this year and we want to take it as far as we can with an eye on the future,” he said.
The Tigers will be tough to beat on Saturday, coming off a dominant win over Deniliquin.
Following the Rhinos’ first innings score of 50, Cobram produced a dominant knock of 427 to take out the win.
In the competition’s other game Nathalia picked up a win over Katamatite.
Putting a total of 170 on the board with the bat on day one, Nathalia managed to bowl the Tigers out for 127 on day two to secure the result.
Two-day fixtures are set to continue this weekend, with Tocumwal welcoming Katamatite, Nathalia hosting Deniliquin and Cobram hosting Barooga.
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