By Marcus Uhe
Another century from Dandenong captain Brett Forsyth was the key contribution in his Panthers reaching six wins in seven games in Victorian Premier Cricket over the weekend.
Forsyth’s unbeaten 149 – his third century of the summer – was the clear standout on the batting card, helping the home side to reach 4/329 on Saturday at Shepley Oval against Melbourne University.
Two early wickets in the defence courtesy of Noah Hurley then hamstrung the visitors’ chase from the outset, who scraped their way to 211 in 82 overs.
A teacher by trade, the irony of Forsyth crunching a hundred against a side with the nickname of Students can’t be understated.
Forsyth batted the duration of Dandenong’s marathon 98 over innings and formed yet another lengthy partnership with up-and-coming dasher Shobit Singh.
The two have formed a brilliant union on a number of occasions this summer, with three 50-run stands and a monster 273-run partnership against Greenvale.
Saturday’s saw the pair add 183 together for the third wicket, after Forsyth and Dhanusha Gamage put on 85.
Singh fell just shy of a third century of the summer, dismissed for a heartbreaking 98 when caught on the midwicket boundary.
Forsyth had no such troubles, facing 271 deliveries and hitting 15 fours in the process.
He now only trails Singh as the second-leading run scorer in the competition this summer, with Singh becoming the first batter to pass 700 runs for the season.
330 set a massive challenge for Melbourne University and ultimately asked too much of the students.
It would have been the second largest chase of any side this summer, with the Students falling 118 runs short.
Hurley’s double strike in his opening spell was supplemented by two from Matthew Wilson shortly after as the visitors fell to 4/42.
Dandenong was made to earn the six points, with Melbourne University lasting 82 overs, but the Panthers managed to finish the job on a hot Sunday evening.
The excellent form of leg-spinner Gehan Seneviratne continued, taking 3/28 from his 14 overs.
Hurley, Wilson and James Nanopoulos each took two wickets.
The Panthers remain one of the hottest teams in the competition and maintain their grasp on fourth place on the table with only three rounds remaining.
Dandenong heads to Ringwood next week to tackle the Rams in a two-day contest.
