By Marcus Uhe
Some said it couldn’t be done.
Dandenong wasn’t buying it, but they also knew it wasn’t going to come easy.
Carlton, the undefeated reigning champions, was never going to roll over, but they also aren’t an unstoppable force.
Dandenong needed to harness fact this in Saturday’s Premier Cricket Victoria contest at Princes Park, knowing their mentality would be of utmost importance in becoming the first time to leave the northern suburbs with six points this season.
It’s a detail that the leadership axis of Tom Donnell and Brett Forsyth made abundantly clear to their playing XI, and rung true with almost alarming accuracy in what Forsyth described as “one of the better wins” for the club during Donnell’s near two seasons at the helm as coach.
“If you look at the game we probably got into a pretty good position after being sent in but against the better teams, you don’t just beat them once in a game and they give up, you have to win the game two or three different times and the best teams make you do that,” Forsyth said reflecting on the game.
“At the halfway mark we looked at it and said ‘we’ve got to stick together and make sure we compete for the full 50 overs.’
“’Whether they hit the winning run or we get the last wicket, make it as tough a game as possible.’
“We thought the total was maybe not quite what it should have been but we knew we were certainly in with a shot if we were able to bowl and field well.
“To set our sights on playing well against Carlton and to come up with a really competitive game and exciting win was great for the group moving forwards.”
Forsyth and Wilson built the innings of 207 with an excellent partnership of 153, but as the captain and coach predicted, the reigning premiers came roaring back.
Beginning with the conclusion of the opening partnership, the Panthers lost 10/54 in pursuit of quick runs late in the innings, threatening to waste a brilliant platform laid by the opening pair.
The Blues entered the run chase with the upper hand, needing just over four runs per over on their familiar home deck to maintain their undefeated premiership defence, and began proceedings with a 30-run opening stand.
James Nanopoulos, Nathan Whitford and Noah Hurley bowled tight opening spells, but at 2/92 just before the halfway point, Carlton remained in control of proceedings.
It was here where one half of Dandenong’s leg spinning duo swung the game back to the visitor’s favour.
Gehan Seneviratne, the more senior of the pairing with Vishwa Ramkumar, produced a double-strike, removing set opener Andrew Poppa, caught on the midwicket boundary for 33, and found the outside edge of Jagadeswara Koduru in his next over for a duck.
2/92 quickly became 4/94 – another win for the Panthers – but the contest was far from over.
The seamers returned for the dogged middle overs and probed with nagging lines and lengths, punctuated by the odd wicket, before Ramkumar entered the fray.
The Blues began the 45th over at 6/175, needing just over a run-per-ball with four wickets in hand to notch another victory but two wickets in three deliveries from Ramkumar put Dandenong back in control.
The wickets of Dominic Sullivan and set batter Harrison Smyth brought two fresh men to the wicket facing immense pressure in the tail-end of the innings with just two wickets in hand and 31 runs required.
Ramkumar, a player of immense promise and potential, having already earned selection for the Australian Under 19s side last year, has the complete trust of Forsyth, who lauded his temperament as “excellent”.
“They did hit a boundary or two off him but he came back really strongly and really landed the ball under pressure and had it on a string.
“As captain, when your bowlers do that for you and when Vishwa does that, you have a lot of confidence to throw him the ball under pressure and if it had have gone the other way, (and) a few lusty blows were hit, we would have accepted that.
“He knows that we’ve got confidence in him and he’s got confidence in us and belief that he’s a really good player and he can help us win games of cricket.
“Under pressure he seemed really calm and wanted the ball.
“He had his plans really set and for him it was about posing as a big a threat as possible, whether it was with his ‘leggie’ trying to get a nick to the keeper or his ‘wrong’un’ bringing the stumps into play, and his lengths hitting the knee-roll.”
A third for Ramkumar in the 48th over put his side on the brink, and Nanopolous finished the job in the penultimate over to seal a sensational nine-run win.
From Seneviratne’s double-strike midway through the innings, Dandenong took 8/106 in the back half of Carlton’s overs to entrench themselves in the top eight.
It’s the Panthers’ fifth consecutive win, and with four rounds to play, they appear a near-certainty to reach the post-season for the first time since the 2020/21 season.
Their form is undeniable and the possibilities the back half of the season hold are hard to ignore, but Forsyth is acutely aware of what his young squad needs to do in the final rounds of the season, maintaining a level head and playing the cards as they’re dealt, rather than casting too far ahead.
“Our messaging to the group has been that it’s exciting to be in this position,” he said.
“When you’ve missed out on finals a fair bit, you’re excited to turn up and train knowing that you’re in with a chance to potentially get there.
“We do have young players but we’ve also got some experienced and younger players as well.
“I think that holds us in really good stead that we’ve got that excitement through youth but also of guys that have been there and done it before and know what it takes.
“We’re not really looking at the results or outcomes because that’s when players and teams and clubs come unstuck – we’re probably excited about the opportunities we have in front of us.”
They will endeavour to reach six in a row next week when red-ball cricket and white clothing returns, hosting 14th-placed Melbourne University at Shepley Oval on Saturday and Sunday.
