A brilliant unbeaten knock off 126 from Wendouree wicketkeeper Heath Pyke has put the Red Caps in the box seat heading into day two of its Ballarat Cricket Association first grade clash with Napoleons-Sebastopol.
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The Red Caps posted 270 runs on board in the top-of-the-table hit-out, but it was not smooth sailing for the entire day.
The Wendouree top-order struggled with four of its top six batsmen failing to go beyond 11 runs. As Steve Butler dismissed Matt Smith, the Red Caps slumped to 6-110 and a substandard total threatened.
But it was Pyke and Jack Peeters who steadied the ship, putting on 92 runs for the seventh wicket.
Pyke continued to send the ball to the boundary as he passed 100 – a well-deserved ton after four half-centuries since the Christmas break - and the tail-order stayed in long enough for the ladder leader to reach 270.
Captain Cole Roscholler said Pyke was outstanding and delivered exactly what the side needed at the time. But he stressed that leaving it to too few was something it could ill afford to do come finals time.
“We would’ve taken 270 at the start of the day, obviously we were in a spot of bother at 6-110 but Heath (Pyke) and Jack Peeters batted really well to the situation and to post 270 was fantastic,” Roscholler said.
“It is a good sign that we bat deep and everyone’s capable of making runs, but at the same time we can’t just think that we can leave it up to someone else because its fraught with danger doing that.
“It’s fantastic that we got 270, but it’s a lesson that we can learn going into the semi-finals.”
Roscholler said his side would not be flirting with its form in any fashion. It currently sits on top of the ladder, three points clear of Naps-Sebas, but Roscholler felt there was no reason to go away from the cricket that got it to the commanding position.
“We’ve treated it like any other week. We need to win to stay on top, there’s no reason to go away from what got us to this position. In terms of trying things, I don’t think there will be too much different to how we’ve played all year.”
Roscholler is pleased with where the side’s form is at at the business end of the season and placed a high-emphasis on remaining at the top of the ladder in order to give themselves the best chance of premiership glory.
“It just means you get to play on the Eastern Oval and you can take weather out of it (the result).
“If you ask anyone I think they’d rather finish first than fourth, it takes weather right out of it and you get to play on one of the best grounds in Ballarat.”