Plenty Valley is hoping to keep its good form rolling as it takes on one of Victorian Premier Cricket’s newest teams for the last one-day clash of the year.
The Bats are fresh off a bye, after losing their first game of the season, falling short of reigning premiers Melbourne in a high scoring match just two weeks ago. Now, they are ready to get back on to the winners list when they take on Geelong at Yarrambat War Memorial Park .
“I think the bye came at a good time, I think it steadied the ship a bit,” head of women’s cricket at the Bats Brett Cole said.
“We had a reasonable game against Melbourne, we did a few things not as well as we wanted to.
“But we’re certainly not throwing the baby out with the bathwater that’s for sure, we’re sitting second and were first until the bye.”
Geelong have been performing well in its infancy in the competition, sitting with three wins from its five matches. Speaking before the game Cole said he remains confident especially with key personnel returning to the starting XI.
“We’re very confident, we get Jaz (Jasmine Nevins) back which is a huge improvement to our team, she’ll be fantastic,” Cole said.
“It will be the same side with just Jaz coming in which means one of our younger players will have to drop down.
“Pearl Kapoor has been batting exceptionally well at the moment so we’ll probably keep her in, she’s doing a great job.”
Nevins has been a part of the Melbourne Stars Women’s Big Bash League squad but was unable to play a match.
Geelong are set to be full of confidence coming off a 75 run win against Prahran over the weekend.
“They’re an up and coming team, their performances have been a little bit up and down but we know that they’ve got a really strong outfit down there,” Cole said.
“They’re probably middle of the road at the moment and hopefully we show we are a little bit better than them, with a team that’s stayed together the whole time.
“I think we have both had the same teams through the season which has been good, a part from us missing Jaz which is obviously a big hole, but we’ve been playing well without her and we can only get better with her.”
A key to the Bats victory will be to dismiss Geelong opening batter Stephanie Townsend early. Townsend scored 83 in the Cats’ win over the weekend. She has also been the competitions’ most prolific run scorer this season, averaging 62.
“She certainly is having a good season,” Cole said.
“We know she’s an excellent player but we’ll have to look at her strengths and weaknesses and make sure we don’t bowl to her strengths.”
