By Tara Murray
Plenty Valley opener Ryan Pearson smashed his second century of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-east season to help guide his side to a strong win on Saturday.
Pearson, who made 172 in the opening round , showed the same form against Croydon on Saturday.
Pearson and opening partner Rory Collins (67) put on 135 for the first wicket partnership, before Pearson went on to make a century.
He was out late in the innings for 109 with the Bats pushing for late runs.
The Bats made 6-214 from their 45 overs.
Bats captain-coach James Dickinson said Pearson had taken his game to the next level.
As well as hitting plenty of runs, he’s got nine wickets. Last season he bowled just two overs.
“He bats, bowls and fields well,” Dickinson said. “He’s loving his cricket at the moment.
“He’s bowling more overs … He was probably under-used last year.
“He’s a left arm offy, who is really dangerous. He and Ayresy [Sean Ayres] bowl well together.”
Dickinson said their total was competitive without being a super effort.
It didn’t look like it would be enough early on, with Croydon sitting nicely at 1-78.
The Bats responded to restrict Croydon to 8-183.
“They got off to a pretty good start,” Dickinson said. “We didn’t get it right early on.
“Callum [Nankervis] and Ayresy brought it back.”
Nankervis finished with 5-41, while Ayres took 1-21 off nine overs. Youngster Ikroop Dhanoa took two wickets.
The win is the Bats second in a row and they now sit third on the ladder, but because of the tightness of the competition this season they are just one win above seventh.
The Bats this week face second-placed Noble Park in a two-day match starting on Saturday, before lining up against Preston in a one-dayer in the final match before the Christmas break.
Dickinson said both matches are important in the context of setting up their season.
“We’re starting to play the way we want to. Hopefully we’ll get there before Christmas.
“It’s tight on the ladder, so each match is important.”
Other winners were, Preston, Noble Park, Coburg, Bayswater, Box Hill and Ivanhoe.
Meanwhile, the Bats were knocked out in the opening round of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association T20 competition.
Facing north group rival Brunswick, the
Bats failed to fire with the bat, bowled out for just 81.
Brunswick got the job done with nearly five overs remaining, finishing 3-87.
Plenty Valley’s women’s Victorian Premier Cricket side had the weekend off, with no matches in that competition across the weekend.
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