mmg.com.au

Pearse’s ton included eight sixes and five fours as he bought some of the former Australian stars back to earth with a man-of-the-match effort.

A six from the 42-year-old on the fifth-last ball of the day sealed victory for the home side at Moon Oval and also saw Pearse finish on 102 not out.

The big hit was dropped on the boundary line at deep square leg by the ACA’s John Davison, seeing the CCA side finish on 8/161 in reply to the ACA’s 7/158.

‘‘(It was the) first runs I’ve made for the year so I was pretty happy with that,’’ Pearse said of the effort.

‘‘I probably got a bit of help from them, but you hit it, they’ve got to catch it. They dropped a few, but it was just a fun day. That’s the main thing.’’

It was a surprise loss for the ACA team, which was favoured to win the match given its host of former and even current stars.

Chris Rogers was one of the current stars, heading up to Rochester in a surprise appearance having played for the Victorian Bushrangers just days before.

Rogers opened the batting for the ACA side, which elected to bat first after captain Matthew Elliott won the toss.

Along with fellow opener Ryan Campbell, the pair combined for a strong opening partnership, which only narrowly missed reaching triple figures.

An early pace attack headed by Jake Wright, Keith Chalmers and Adrian Pappin failed to break through the pair early, conceding 37 runs off the opening five overs.

A couple of missed catches by the CCA players did not help the cause, but Echuca South spinner Mitch McMullan managed to claim the breakthrough wicket when Campbell was caught by Adam Ward for 64 in the 12th over, seeing the ACA team sit at 1/99.

The incoming Murray Goodwin, a World Cup cricketer for Zimbabwe, did not last long as he was caught by Ward off the bowling of CCA captain Dylan Cuttriss, the second wicket in as many overs seeing the CCA side grow in confidence.

Rogers’ stand then came to an end as McMullan snared the third wicket of the match thanks to a good catch by Pappin on the boundary in the 14th over, the wheels coming off for the ACA team who suddenly found themselves at 3/108.

John Davison combined with captain and former Australian opener Elliott for a 22-run partnership.

The team was momentarily steadied before Davison (19) was sent back to the sheds when Ward claimed his first wicket with the ball with the help of a Chalmers’ catch at long on.

With less than four overs remaining, the ACA side loosened up, taking some big swings.

But the move was costly as Ralph Siede had Elliott caught and Chalmers took the wickets of Mick Lewis and Wayne Holdsworth in the final over.

Set a challenging task with a run-rate of almost eight an over needed, the CCA team appeared confident during the break before heading in to bat.

That confidence was soon stripped from them though after a horror start had the home team at 3/6 in the third over.

Jones could manage only two before being clean bowled by big man Jo Angel with his first ball of the day, while speedster Mick Lewis took the wickets of Pappin and Corey Windridge in the space of three balls in the third over.

Siede (8) was sent packing in the fifth over and Ward followed him in the sixth over, as Campaspe slumped further to 5/23.

It was then Pearse took hold of the game, helped by a steady Brad Major at the other end of the pitch.

Pearse smashed consecutive sixes into the crowd on the on-side in the eighth over as the run rate picked up.

The pair combined for 64 runs to take the score to 6/87 when Major was clean bowled by some Elliott spin, but Pearse lived on after a catch was dropped on the boundary by Wayne Holdsworth shortly after.

Along with his captain, Cuttriss, Pearse continued his big hitting with the pair putting on a further 48 runs.

Cuttriss (16) eventually came unstuck on the verge of a third six when he was caught just centimetres from the boundary line by Goodwin off the bowling of Davison.

At 7/135 in the 15th over, it was left to Pearse to take the team past its target.

His next partner, Moama youngster Layton McCann, chipped in for a six runs before being caught after an up-and-under hit which fell into the hands of Davison at mid-wicket.

Veteran Pearse got lucky as an lbw call on him was turned down and the catch on his final six was dropped, but he did not disappoint as he and Jake Wright (5) were left standing as the CCA side claimed victory at the end of the innings.