Plenty Valley young gun Aryan Sharma hits maiden century in win over Ivanhoe
Plenty Valley young gun Aryan Sharma caps a memorable fortnight with his maiden VSDCA century at just 16 years old.
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What a fortnight for Plenty Valley young gun Aryan Sharma.
The Bats’ 16-year-old opening batsman scored his maiden VSDCA century on Saturday to lead his team to a 121-run win over Ivanhoe at Yarrambat War Memorial Reserve.
It came after a match-winning 81 not out last week against Mt Waverley and continues his excellent form, scoring at least 22 runs in seven knocks and averaging 62.60.
Sharma has also secured a place in Fitzroy Doncaster’s Dowling Shield squad, scored 213 runs at 30 for Northern Eagles in the Under-16 Youth Premier League and still plays under-16s at Epping.
Plenty Valley captain-coach Michael Rogneda was enjoying watching the talented youngster grow.
“He was awesome, for a young guy he knows his game really well,” he said.
“He batted really consistently, he had the same tempo throughout, he took low-risk runs where they were, took some calculated risks and made really good decisions.
“He gets in a really good position to hit the ball through the off-side … I was rapt for him.”
Sharma and Liam Mallia (30) put on a 92-run opening stand before Nish Perera’s 51 from 56 balls lifted the home team to 6-230.
After a dominant 97 last week, Cal Nankervis was on the wrong side of the cricketing gods, out for a golden duck.
Rogneda (3-11) and Perera (3-27) then ripped through the Ivanhoe batting order to dismiss the visitors for 109.
The win keeps Plenty Valley in the hunt for a top-two finish just a game behind joint leaders Kew and Strathmore.
Rogneda was pleased with the complete performance.
“Everyone that came in towards the end (of our innings), we were the ones that took the risk and Aryan played the anchor.
“He was scoring at just under a run-a-ball and the guys coming in were the ones that took the risks, which allowed us to go from 210 to 230, it was really selfless by the guys.
“I was rapt with our bowling, Blacky really set the tone and then Huss Kumarage bowled up the hill and built the pressure,” he said.
“That allowed me to settle in first change and tighten things up and they had to try and score of Nish, which is a hard thing to do.
The skipper was also relieved to improve his contribution, taking more than one wicket in a match for the first time this season.
“I was happy with it, I haven’t bowled very well this year.
“The week before I bowled terrible, the worst I’ve bowled in a long time, and went the journey at the death, so it was good to get a couple of wickets.”
With seven rounds remaining Plenty Valley faces a season-defining three weeks.
The Bats travel to Brunswick on Saturday before games against St Bernard’s and Kew.
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After missing several players in the first game back from the Christmas break, Plenty Valley was full strength on Saturday and Rogneda hopes can carry on it’s good form.
“We’ve got some hard games coming up where we’ll have to be at our best,” he said.
“(Brunswick) has been one of the best sides since I’ve been playing Subbies, we played them last year in the semi-final.
“Not to look too far ahead we’ve got St Bernard’s and Kew after that, so in a couple of weeks we’ll know where we’re at.”
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Missing as many has nine First XI players, Plenty Valley has secured one of its most famous wins.
Bats captain-coach Michael Rogneda labelled the seven-wicket win over Mt Waverley as one of the best of his entire career after chasing down the Kangaroos’ imposing 6-225.
Already missing a host of first choice players, leading wicket-taker Simon Black was then forced to withdraw on Saturday morning after a positive RAT test.
Reigning VSDCA Holton Medallist Cal Nankervis put his depleted team on his back in a dominant display with bat and ball.
The star all-rounder claimed 4-40 before smashing 97 – falling agonisingly short of a deserved century – to inspire his team.
Bats opener Aryan Sharma was equally superb, finishing unbeaten on 81 and hitting the winning runs with nine balls to spare.
“It was an awesome win, it was one of the best wins I’ve played in in my career, ever,” Rogneda said.
“It was a bit hard to get a team on the park but we did and we got to see Cal do his thing.
“It was a bit of a struggle, I was surprised we played actually, I don’t know how other teams were affected but we had nine out, four debutants and one guy played his second or third game, so we were really young.”
Will Hanlon, 14-year-old wicketkeeper Aryan Sharma, Mandiv Ruwanpathirana and Anshu Chopra came into the side and made important contributions.
Ruwanpathirana opened the bowling, finishing with 0-23 from five overs, Hanlon finished with 0-10 from three overs and Sharma took a catch behind the stumps.
However, it was Nankervis that stole the show.
After Mt Waveley made a strong start Nankervis got the breakthrough, removing Michael Millier (30) and Roos skipper Michael Sheedy (six) in quick succession.
He again stopped the Kangaroos momentum when he bowled Paul Evans (45) and trapped Angus Robbins (39) lbw.
Nankervis then turned destroyer with the bat, hitting four boundaries and seven sixes in a 72-ball masterclass before falling to Nathan Pruscino (2-38).
“Cal was awesome, he changed the game with the ball and then took the game on from ball one with the bat,” Rogneda said.
“He punished their spinners, he prefers pace on but he really took to their spinners.
“I was in the rooms padding up when he walked in, he rarely shows emotion but he wasn’t happy – in a respectful way.”
Nankervis and Sharma put on a 139-run partnership for the second wicket.
“Aryan has been threatening to do this for a while, he’s made a couple of 30s and then got himself out,” Rogneda said.
“He was quite sore at drinks but I said to him ‘you’re on 40, you’ve got to this stage, now you need to dig in and go on with it’.
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“It was great to watch, it was a really mature knock, and he finished the game with three fours.”
The win lifts Plenty Valley to third and the Bats hope to get as many as six first-choice players back for Saturday’s home game against Ivanhoe.
Nish Perera, Liam Mallia, Ryan Nankervis, Hasaga Kumerage and Harjinder Chalal are all expected to be fit, while Black’s availability will depend on his day-five test.
“I’m not sure, there were a couple of guys that did really well (on Saturday) so they’ll be some discussion to see who keeps their spot,” Rogneda said.
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