Plenty Valley entered weekend without a win, it finishes back in form
Plenty Valley pulls off a miracle escape against Preston before dismantling Malvern to remind to its Subbies rivals of its qualities in the VSDCA’s double-header.
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Reigning VSDCA premier Plenty Valley sent a reminder of its quality to its rivals over the weekend with two critical wins.
On Saturday, the Bats pulled off a miracle escape against Preston before dismantling early-season front-runner Malvern on Sunday.
Plenty Valley entered the weekend’s double-header without a victory but finished it firmly inside the competition’s top six.
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“It’s a really good weekend for us, it sets up our season,” Bats skipper Ryan Pearson said.
“We got out of jail on Saturday with a four off the last ball … (but) it showed Sunday, the win brought us all together and the confidence we got out of it.
“That’s the cricket we expect every week.”
The Roosters made a strong start at Malvern Cricket Ground as Luke Walker (60) and Glen Parker (57) took the home team to 2-119. However, some outstanding fielding and tight bowling from Michael Rogneda (3-29) saw Malvern bowled out for only 182.
A brilliant 87 by Rory Collins anchored the run chase as the Bats reached 5-187 with 12 overs to spare.
“We’ve got a really good fielding side — we had another run out today — and we would have saved 30 or 40 runs in the field,” Pearson said.
“Rory just batted sensationally, a really good tempo, anything through the field was four. It’s a really good scalp to get, they’ve got some really good cricketers and they’ll be thereabouts at the end of the year.”
The comfortable win was in stark contrast to 24 hours earlier when Plenty Valley survived an almighty scare from the Bullants.
After winning the toss and opting to bat at Preston City Oval, the home team posted 7-195, as Gayan De Silva topped scored with 49.
The Bats were in massive strife at 4-45 after Althaf Nizam (3-30) ripped through the top order.
However, Michael Rogneda (49 not out) and Simon Black (43) launched a late rescue mission. Rogneda proved the hero, hitting the match-winning boundary off the final ball of the match, Plenty Valley finishing 7-197.
“We were in the sh*t a little bit but Simon and Michael batted unbelievably, they knocked the ball around, didn’t panic and showed the top order how it needed to be done,” Pearson said.