Pittorino ton drives Atherton

AN unbeaten century from veteran keeper Fred Pittorino helped Atherton Cricket Club snatch victory over Rovers in an enthralling match at Loder Park on Saturday.

Rovers’ Rhys Camilleri topscored with 37 off 46 as his side posted a competitive total of 9-175 after 40 overs.

A fiery opening spell from Rovers’ top pace duo Tom Lever and Brenton Edwards had Atherton in all sorts of bother at 3-24, before Pittorino stepped up to save the day.

While Cricket Far North hasn’t adopted the technology just yet, you can be sure WinViz would’ve placed an Atherton victory somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent as he made his way to the crease.

Joined by Ethan Sanderson, the pair battled toward a 50run partnership off 41 balls to swing momentum ever-soslightly back in Atherton’s favour.

The match continued to hang in the balance, with Atherton’s last-wicket partnership needing 22 runs off 25 balls for the win.

Pittorino notched up his ton with a six in the 39th over to a thunderous cheer from the Atherton faithful in attendance.

He finished the match in style, smashing the matchwinning six with four balls to spare.

The victory gives thirdplace Atherton a handy eightpoint buffer over fourth-place Rovers with just three rounds remaining.