By Tara Murray
Plenty Valley ticked off the first box in the three round period in the fight for a finals spot in the Victorian Premier Cricket women’s competition.
After an inconsistent month of cricket, the Bats now have their finals hopes in their own hands in the final rounds of the regular season.
A win on Sunday against Ringwood sees the Bats sitting fourth with two rounds remaining.
Bats coach Adam Drinkwell said it had been a difficult month of cricket for the side.
“The players have been pretty inconsistent in the last month,” he said.
“We’ve had some good patches and then struggled in some spots.”
On Sunday, it was the side’s ability to fight hard and scrap to put a score together was the key to getting the win.
The Bats made 9-143 from their 50 overs.
Opener Sophie Reid top scored with 32.
“It wasn’t easy to bat early on and we were able to grind together an innings, which proved to be enough,” Drinkwell said.
“The girls fought hard and there were contributions throughout the batting line-up. That’s all you can ask for.”
Drinkwell admits he wasn’t sure whether they had enough runs on the board, with Ringwood recently chasing down 180.
“We were able to get some early wickets which helps,” Drinkwell said.
“Our spinners, Grace [Jones] and Sophie [Day] were terrific in the middle of the innings.”
Ringwood was bowled out for 99.
Jones was the standout, taking 5-17 off her 10 overs.
The win keeps Plenty Valley in fourth spot, eight points clear of fifth.
Drinkwell said a win next week could seal their finals berth with one round remaining.
He said they still had some work to do on their batting, but were confident that they could make a second straight finals series.
“A few of the other teams are playing against each other,” he said.
“We set ourselves a three week section and we’ve ticked off round one. If we win our game next week, it will give us fourth spot and hopefully we won’t be able to lose it.
“It’s such a close competition. Teams know they can go in knowing they can win any game.”
Meanwhile, Plenty Valley’s men’s side had to watch from the sidelines in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association on Saturday.
Rain washed out all play, with their match now to be a one-dayer this weekend.
