By Jackson Russell
A massive century from captain Ben Way gave Romsey a great start on day one of its McIntyre Cup two-day match against Diggers Rest Bulla on Saturday.
Way made 148 as the Redbacks posted a total of 284 from 77 overs.
Despite the large total, it was a rough start for Romsey with Way quickly losing partners until he was joined by Taylor Stevenson when Romsey was 3/19.
Way and Stevenson went on to put together a 194-run partnership before Stevenson was dismissed leg before wicket by Rhys Berry (4/104) for 81 with Romsey 4/213.
Way added another 49 to the total alongside Darin Jewell, who made 15.
Following Way’s dismissal at 5/262, Romsey’s tail didn’t last long, adding 22 to the Redbacks’ total before being bowled out.
Way said he and Stevenson had to battle through the early stages of their partnership before the runs started to flow later.
“It took a while, we were in a bit of trouble early and we had a good partnership with Taylor that turned the match around,” he said.
“It was good to get some runs but we had to battle pretty hard for a while to get to the stage where we got the rewards later in the day and were able to score freely.
“It was one of those partnerships where we didn’t give them any opportunities, kept the pressure on them, picked the scoring rate up and started to play some bigger shots.
“Taylor battled really hard through his first 30 then his last 50 was probably at a run a ball so he was a big part of our total.
“We’re pretty happy with our total, hopefully its somewhere in the ball park and we’re able to defend it this week.”
