Footscray star Travis Dean made a pitch described as “a bit tacky and two-paced” appear like a road en route to a match-winning century.
Dean compiled 111 runs off 138 balls to lead the Bulldogs to a 55-run win over Greenvale Kangaroos in a Premier Cricket one-day game at Merv Hughes Oval on Saturday.
“He looked like he batted on another wicket to the rest of us,” Bulldogs captain Dylan Kight said.
“That’s what we’ve sort of come to expect from him now.”
Dean consistently hit runs without a high volume of boundaries.
He only hit seven fours and one six, but he meticulously picked the gaps and made it a tough task for opposition captain Kyle Adams to set fields to him. Dean’s knock was the cornerstone to Footscray’s 5-248 off 50 overs.
“We lost an early wicket before he went in, so he knew that he had to bat the innings and he did that,” Kight said. “The good thing about his game is that he’s got about three or four tiers, where, if we’re being honest, most Premier cricketers have got the one or two.
“He can shift up gears when he needs to and shift back down.”
Kight provided the most support for Dean. With Footscray struggling on 3-46, the pair produced a 120-run fourth wicket partnership with Kight adding 61 off 80 balls.
Kight has been one of the Bulldogs’ most consistent batsmen this summer with 539 runs at an average of 67.4.
“It’s been a good season personally,” he said.
“Our batting order is pretty strong and it’s pretty deep, so coming in at five there hasn’t been the pressure there has been of previous years.
“The top order has been looking after me a lot, so that’s allowed me to be more consistent.”
Even with the Dean and Kight partnership, Footscray needed a little bit extra to hold the upper hand at the midway point in the game.
Enter Hamish Winter-Irving, who showed his power with 37 off 21, including three sixes in the last over.
“It’s not really a surprise to the playing group that he did that, but it probably was to Greenvale,” Kight said.
Greenvale fell well short of the target, finishing on 9-193 off its 50 overs.
Zaheer Hussain did his utmost with a free-wheeling 74 off 92, but when he was dismissed, his side’s chances dwindled. Hayden Butterworth claimed Hussain, finishing with 2-32.
Footscray is fifth on the ladder, but level on points with third-placed Carlton.
The Bulldogs will have a prime opportunity to break into the top four when they travel to bottom-of-the-ladder Casey-South Melbourne for a two-day game starting on Saturday.
