Inspired bowling by Luke Robinson and Matthew Hewat gave Plenty Valley its third straight win in the Victorian Sub-district Cricket Association’s north-south competition.
The Bats had been forced onto the back foot early with both the bat and ball, but found that something extra to get the win over St Bernards in the T20 match.
Batting first, Plenty Valley could only manage 118 runs.
Playing coach Hewat described his side’s batting as a “so, so performance”.
“We thought about 150 was par, but we got ahead of ourselves,” he said.
“We got carried away about getting early runs, and lost early wickets because of it.
“They had us under pressure the whole time.”
Bats’ skipper Brad Mitchell top-scored with 25, with Matthew Hunter making 20.
The Bats’ hopes of a third straight win looked premature when St Bernards were cruising at 1-60.
“We were positive and knew it would take a couple of wickets to get the change,” Hewat said.
“They were batting pretty well.”
Hewat took his second wicket to make it 2-60, and when Simon Black got his first wicket, the Bats started to have a sniff.
Then enter Luke Robinson … having made just nine with the bat before being run out, he took his revenge with the ball.
In the space of three bowls, Robinson turned the game back in the Bats’ favour, taking a hat trick that led to St Bernards’ collapse, and sent them all out for 89.
“We were happy to get a couple of wickets … and then Luke got a hat trick,” Hewat said.
“I then chipped in with a couple of wickets.
“Once we got momentum, we went on to get the win. Honestly, I was just happy to get the win, as T20 games can be danger games.”
Hewat finished with 4-15 while Robinson took 3-18.
The Bats is one of just three teams in the north-south competition to win their opening three matches.
“We’re very happy to be three from three,” Hewat said.
“Hopefully, we keep the momentum going to set us up for the season.”
