By Tyler Lewis and Nick Creely
AROUND THE GROUNDS
VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET
REVIEW – ROUND 8 (DAY TWO)
The Panthers are back in the hunt.
After a powerful performance at Shepley Oval on Saturday, Dandenong are back in the finals race.
Beginning the day at 3/78, the start was vital in how the day was going to play out and Comrey Edgeworth combined with Ed Newman to get the Panthers off to a dream start.
Nudging the ball around with minimal risk, the pair added immense scoreboard pressure to the Kingston-Hawthorn attack.
When Edgeworth’s (36) knock came to an end, Nanopoulos (28) and Newman (60) accelerated past the total at almost a run a ball.
At times, the left-handers played strokes that had to be seen to be believed.
Pete Cassidy and Suraj Randiv joined at the crease in a balanced situation, there scalps defining whether Dandenong would set a lead or have to bat again later in the day.
But one over from Cassidy shifted the lead of Dandenong rapidly, and advanced the Panthers position.
Cassidy found the fence five times in one over, adding 20 runs to the Panthers lead in a display of brute force and at times, some elegance.
Jacques Augustin came in for only a handful of balls, finding time to entertain with a supreme ramp shot before Tom Donnell waved his men in with a 109-run lead.
Locky Scott got that early scalp he was deprived off last week before consistent wickets fell throughout the innings.
At tea, the Hawks loomed to deprive Dandenong of 10 precious points, but Gehan Seneviratne and Randiv begun to turn the ball square and ultimately run right through the Hawks.
The last wicket was proving to be an elusive one, before Nanopoulos finished the job to claim his first for the afternoon.
Dandenong claiming its second win for the season, maximum points, and more importantly only sit a win outside of finals contention again – a sight many top eight teams would make squirm.
Earning the maximum points has the Panthers knocking on the door of the eight and for Dandenong captain Tom Donnell; the outright win has kept his side in it after a rocky start to the year.
“It is massive really,” he said.
“I suppose the last few years we have had been quite lucky with winning close ones, playing well and keeping our noses in front of the ladder.
“This time we have been on the other end, losing a few close ones which put us under a bit of pressure.
“The 10 points is massive, it puts us right back in the mix, we are still going to have to play really well for the rest of the year to push for finals, but at least it gives us a sniff.
“Hopefully it can give us a bit of momentum to push on after Christmas and squeeze into the eight.”
Dandenong’s trump card is their ability with bat in hand, but through the early stages of the season the Panthers have been reliant on the performances of its bowlers.
However, after some strong displays wielding the blade during the week, Donnell feels things are starting to set for the Panthers with some talented depth coming back this week.
“I think it all started with the twenty-20 last Wednesday,” he said.
“It was a good feel amongst the group that game, it was a good quality game of cricket against Prahran, good opposition and we played well.
“That pushed into Saturday and things are starting to click for us a little bit.
“’Shawry’ (Josh Shaw) comes over, Triyan (De Silva) is back, Jakeb Thomas is back, ‘Buchy’ (Akshat Buch) is playing well as well.
“There are good signs, it is going to be tough for the selectors; it is good signs for the whole club with all four sides winning, and the fourths winning outright, it has been a really good couple of weeks for the club to put a few troubles we have had early on in the year behind us and push forward.”
Dandenong will take on Camberwell this week at the Camberwell Sports Ground where the Panthers will hope to take another six points into the Christmas break.
Only just down the highway, Casey-South Melbourne – despite a splendid, fighting knock from Michael Wallace – went down to Camberwell Magpies in an absolute thriller.
After a brilliant Thomas Russ century on day one set the Swans a tricky, but manageable chase of 316 for victory, it was steady in the early stages with skipper Luke Wells and Devin Pollock once again incredibly watchful as the Magpies’ seamers bowled tidily with the new ball.
But Kieren Jamieson (2/43) provided the crucial breakthrough, snaring the edge of Wells to immediately put the Swans under the pump.
While Pollock looked set to break through for some runs, the Magpies once again found a crucial wicket, with the Swans 2/43 and needing rising duo Joel Mitchell and Aaron Fernando to steady the ship with Nathan Freitag out of the side.
The pair were fluent, adding a further 44 runs to the score, before a double strike on the stroke of lunch saw Fernando back in the sheds for a promising 33, while Mitchell fell victim to his second run-out of the season for 20 from 40 balls.
With experienced pair Michael Wallace and Jordan Wyatt at the crease to help dig the Swans out of the hole in the second session – similar to the 120-run stand shared by Russ and Magpie legend Simon Hill the week prior – the job was far from over for the visitors.
On a pitch beginning to flatten out, Wallace and Wyatt – playing in two uniquely contrasting styles – worked hard to soak up the pressure before beginning to launch into their shots.
But just as Wyatt threatened to explode past 50 after racing to 47, a knock featuring six fours and two sixes, spinner Alec Smith began to really get going with the ball, capturing the crucial scalp of the aggressive middle-order batsman.
Fresh from a mountain of runs in the seconds, Chris Benedek found the boundary on the very next ball, but Smith struck again to send the Swans to 6/157.
But Wallace – with the much-improved Nathan Lambden in the lower order – put their heads down and began to slowly, but surely build a partnership.
With no room for error, Wallace skipped past his second half-century of the season, as Lambden bunkered down and provided the perfect foil for the stylish left-hander, who was finding his timing and starting to latch on anything in his areas.
Just as it appeared like the Swans were destined to pull off a potentially season-defining run chase, Smith snared Wallace for a brilliant 77 off 159 balls, before not long after picking up the wicket of Jackson Fry.
With Jordan Hammond (30) going hard to bring the Swans to within 15 runs in the last over of the day, quick Matt Whittaker – who toiled hard for 24 overs – took the match-winning wicket with five balls before stumps to give the Magpies its most crucial result of the season so far.
The Swans were bowled out for 301, with Smith capturing the outstanding figures of 6/85 from his 21 overs.
The Swans will be desperate to bounce back when they host Frankston Peninsula in the final game before the Christmas break.
MPCA PENINSULA
ROUND 7
Pearcedale suffered its second consecutive outright defeat on the weekend when it took on Pines.
The horror run continues for the Dales who are yet to register a win this season.
After being bundled out for an un-defendable 85 in the first innings, Pines chased it without the loss of a wicket in just 21 overs.
In the second dig, the Dales could only manage 121 which Pines chased down in 23 overs to claim maximum points.
Another difficult week with the bat for the Dales which this year has set under 100 on four occasions.
VICTORIAN SUB-DISTRICT – SOUTH-WEST
ROUND 7 (DAY ONE)
Endeavour Hills racked up 229 against Noble Park at Pat Wright Senior Oval on Saturday.
Off the back of half-centuries to Mohsin Rasheed (51) and Vinu Mohotty (75), the Eagles put in one of their better days of the season so far.
Club legend Richie Saniga also contributed a fine 38 not out from the back-end of the innings.
Marasinghe Perera (3/34) was the pick of the bowlers for Noble Park, who will need to bat well to capture the points on Saturday.
