Plenty Valley has fallen victim to tight bowling from Essendon Maribyrnong Park in Victorian Premier Cricket T20.
Looking to get ahead of the ledger in the T20 competition, on Wednesday night the Bats came up against a determined EMP side seeking to do the same.
Bats coach Adam Drinkwell said his side was unable to make the most of a good start.
“We started well with Rhiann [O’Donnell] and Sophie [Reid],” he said. “We were in a good position after six or seven overs to launch a big assault.
“EMP bowled tightly and bowled to their plans … we weren’t able to get any momentum in the last 10 overs. We scampered to 90 off our overs.”
Reid top-scored with 19 in the total of 5-90 as five out of the seven batters reached double figures – but none could pass 20.
Drinkwell said they thought they were 30 to 40 runs short of having secured a competitive total.
That proved to be the case, with the Bombers making 3-93.
“We needed to get early wickets if we were any chance,” Drinkwell said. “They got off to a flyer, making 26 off the first three overs. It was hard to slow them down from there.”
Providence Cowdrill took 2-15 off four overs to show more positive signs since joining the club midway through the season.
Cowdrill has taken 14 wickets in seven games across all grades for the Bats.
Drinkwell said he believed her progress would be ongoing.
“She took five wickets against Dandenong and she looks to make runs in the middle of the order, so is a good acquisition,” he said.
“She’ll be better in the one-dayers when she can settle into a long spell.”
The loss leaves the Bats sitting 2-3 with one round of the T20 competition remaining.
Drinkwell said they were hoping to square the ledger this weekend, before taking confidence into the one-dayers.
“We are continuing to improve and we are a different team to last year,” he said.
“We need to close out games with both the bat and ball..
“We need to settle into the games and play long, hard cricket and learn from the games earlier in the season.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a few more wins and get some more confidence.”
Meanwhile, in Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west, the Bats have slipped from second to fourth after losing to Yarraville.
Despite having 8-298 on the board, the Bats weren’t able to get the win with the Eagles hitting the winning runs in the last over.
The Eagles finished 8-298 on the back of a 100 to skipper Matthew Love. Matt Hewat and Ashur Morrison took two wickets each for the Bats. The Bats now sit in fourth, nine points behind Melton.
