ROVERS captain Tom Lever scored his maiden Cricket Far North first grade century but fell just short of leading his team to an outright win over Barron on Saturday.

Rovers picked up where they left off last weekend, easily surpassing Barron's first-inning run total of 93 before declaring with a 106-run lead.

"We thought we could get them out for about 100, because that's what we did in the first innings," said Lever, who scored an unbeaten 100.

Rovers fell two wickets short as Barron finished the day 8/104.

"We picked up a lot of points, so we are pretty happy," Lever said.

The win moves Rovers closer to the competition's top teams but Lever said his side was out-of-reach of pacesetters United and Atherton, who capped-off a seesawing two-dayer on Saturday.

United stayed unbeaten, holding off Atherton for a first-innings win. Their first-inning total of 256 looked under threat as Atherton's middle order, led by Gerard Fox (54), Tom Boorman (38) and Fred Pittorino (51) provided a spark.

Five-wicket hero Linden March put that momentum to a halt when he dismissed Fox, Boorman and Dan Parnell in the span of 12 runs and held Atherton to 221 runs.

It was a big win for United, but Lever believes Atherton will be the team to beat as the competition wears on.

Atherton will look to bounce back next week against a Norths team that won its second two-dayer of the season, after going winless in the format last year.

Ryan Charrington led the way against Tully, claiming four wickets -- including the prized one of interim rep captain Brenton Edwards, on the way to victory.

NEW CAIRNS.COM.AU COMMENT POLICY
We welcome your comments on this story. Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Comments submitted without a full name and suburb/location will not be considered for publication. Please read our full comment policy and publication guidelines.

Share this article