IT might not be a hattrick on his birthday, but Peter Siddle has produced another terrific bowling performance, this time for the Tasmanian Tigers in the Sheffield Shield.

In their ongoing first class clash against the South Australia Redbacks, the Tigers have given themselves a chance to claim the win, with Siddle’s excellent bowling performance having a big say in his side’s prospects.

One of Australia’s most reliable quicks, Siddle has a reputation for blitzing the opposition batsmen with his consistent queries, and it was on full display. He claimed eight wickets over the span of two innings as the South Australia batsmen struggled to get any momentum at the crease with Siddle disrupting their rhythm and timing.

Peter Siddle vs. Redbacks

First innings – 4/51 (18 overs) & 7no
Second Innings – 4/45 (19 overs) & yet to bat

The first innings saw Siddle’s teammate in Jackson Bird claim early wickets, dismissing the first four batsmen in the Redbacks’ lineup. However, fatigue kicked in and Siddle was called into the attack more frequently, and making plenty of impact in doing so. His first scalp came in his eighth over, hitting Alex Carey with some seam and rocketing the ball into the stumps. It was the beginning of a batting collapse from the Redbacks, as Siddle struck again shortly after, claiming the breakthrough wicket of Jake Lehmann, who had gotten himself to 75 runs.

When the tail-end came onto the crease, Siddle showed no signs of slowing down, claiming Wes Agar for a golden duck as he edged the ball through to keeper Tim Paine. South Australia’s prospects for the innings were just about done by this point, and Siddle added insult to injury when he produced a blistering delivery to Harry Conway, who poked at the ball and edged it straight to slip. The Redbacks finished on 227, which Tassie chased down in the second innings.

The third innings of the match saw more attacking play from Siddle, who continued his hot form and ripped through the Redbacks’ batting lineup for another four dismissals. The first victim was Henry Hunt, who has a reuptation of being able to stay at the crease for extended periods, but Siddle’s pace drew a nick, which went straight through to Paine.

He claimed Conway once again, this time for a duck as the batsman attempted a drive shot, but instead edged the ball through to the keeper with the outswing proving too much. It was the first of a trio of quick wickets in succession for Siddle, as Jake Carder tried to play a defensive shot and edged the ball to slip, and the dangerous Travis Head was caught on a duck after Siddle took away his comfort with a strong delivery down leg side.

The game is still up for grabs at time of publication, with Tasmania needing less than 100 runs to claim the win, and Siddle has played a big result in getting the Tigers into a winning position.