A Luke Robinson century guided Plenty Valley into a strong position in Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association’s north-south competition.
Coming off their first loss of the season, the Bats wobbled early against Malvern on Saturday.
Winning the toss, the Bats were soon in trouble at 3-29, with Sean Ayres (20 runs) the only top order batsman to reach double figures.
Englishman Luke Robinson came to the crease and was joined by Daniel Heatley. Robinson did most of the attacking in the 135-run partnership, which took the Bats to 3-164.
Heatley was out for 34 and Matthew Hunter fell not long afterwards.
Robinson reached his century as he and skipper Brad Mitchell pushed the score towards 200. The two fell in quick succession, but the Bats tail wagged and added almost another 100 runs.
The Bats were all out for 287.
Robinson top-scored with 112, while Simon Black made 49 and Stephen Tsonas made 30.
Meanwhile, the Bats suffered a loss against Melbourne in Women’s Premier Cricket.
In the second round of the T20 matches, Melbourne chose to bat first.
It proved the right move, with all four top order batsmen getting on the board in the side’s total of 2-162.
In reply, the Bats made 6-145.
