By Tara Murray
Plenty Valley destroyed Noble Park on day one of their Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-east game.
With both teams sitting in the top three, the game was expected to be the match of the round, but so far it’s been a fizzer with the Bats already claiming first innings points.
The Bats put in a good bowling performance, bowling Noble Park out for 106.
Bats captain-coach James Dickinson said they started a bit slowly.
“We didn’t use the wicket well the first 10 to 15 overs,” he said. “Ayresy [Sean Ayres] and Heats [Daniel Heatley] came on and it turned our way.
“There was a little bit in the wicket.”
Heatley took 6-19 off 10 overs, which included a hat-trick.
“He made the batsmen play and it was doing things off the wicket,” Dickinson said of Heatley.
“We went nuts when he took the hat-trick. It’s the second hat-trick this season, with Pearso [Ryan Pearson] taking one. I’ve never been part of a side that’s had two hat-tricks in a season.”
Dickinson said while the ideal plan was to get the runs on day one to get first innings points, he said they just let the game play out.
The Bats finished the day at 5-113, with Dickinson unbeaten on 40.
“We let the day evolve,” he said. “If we had lost early wickets, we would have batted out time.
“Heats [29] got on a roll and batted well, as did Callum Nankervis [12].”
Dickinson said the leadership group would speak during the week about how to approach the game next weekend.
He said they would have to decide whether they were happy with a first innings win, or to try for an outright.
“We have a few little opportunities,” he said. “It’s an important game and we’ve got some points now.
“They were first and we were third, so we don’t want to let them back in and give them points as well.”
In Women’s Victorian Premier Cricket, Plenty Valley has started the T20 competition with two wins.
The Bats, who included English international Danni Wyatt, started the competition with a win against Ringwood on Wednesday.
The Bats made 6-111 from their overs then bowled Ringwood out for 88 in the second last over.
On Sunday, the Bats beat Box Hill.
The Bats made 4-113, with Sophie Day top scoring with 44 not out. Box Hill couldn’t make the runs, finishing 7-96.
The Bats have another two games this week.
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