Bant, whose previous top score this season was 80 against Northern Raiders, anchored the Gators' inning against Dennington in a 50-run victory.

It was the 32-year-old's first triple-figure score since the 2019-20 Warrnambool and District cricket season and 11^th overall.

"If I can get in and help out and help us get a good score together then that's all I'm trying to do," Bant said.

With the Gators losing their first two wickets cheaply at Dennington Recreation Reserve, Bant brought the innings back to life with 112 runs from 144 deliveries, including eight boundaries.

The top-order batsman said his mindset was to score off the ball "if it was there".

"I didn't want to go too much into my shell," he said. "It was good to get the recovery obviously being 2-3.

"We had some good partnerships all the way through without a big one, there was lots of little ones that added up to a lot.

"I feel like if we can get good scores like that together, we can defend it with our good bowling attack."

The Gators' attack, led by Ben Boyd (3-16) and Simon Richardson (3-28), held up in defence of a 190-run stand. Xavier Beks top-scored for the Dogs with an economical 46 runs off 45 deliveries.

"Our bowlers didn't bowl any bad balls," Bant said. "I think we just bowled good line and lengths."

With the division one finals series moving to a top six this year, Bant said the clash against Dennington was "a double points game" with both sides level on points heading into the match.

"We've got North Warrnambool next week who are pretty similar with us," Bant said. "It's going to be another one that is a bit of a do-or-die game. Hopefully we can put another good performance together."

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