Panthers crash in one-day clash

By Paul Pickering
MANY cricket commentators seem to be forecasting the death of the 50-over format lately and they probably wouldn’t hear much argument from the Dandenong Panthers at the moment.
The one-day format has been a bugbear for the Panthers all summer and the trend continued with an eight-wicket loss to Fitzroy-Doncaster at Kyabram on Saturday.
The country-round defeat was Dandenong’s fifth in seven 50-over clashes this season, condemning the Panthers to a 15th-place finish in the Premier Cricket one-day competition.
This is the same team that made the grand final of the Primary Edge Cup Twenty20 tournament and is unbeaten in four two-day encounters.
Dandenong coach Warren Ayres thought his side’s total of 182 would take some getting on Saturday, but a series of missed chances in the field allowed Lions pair Lloyd Mash (71 not-out) and Glen Maxwell (99 not-out) to mount a successful two-man chase.
The pair came together at the vulnerable position of 2/17 before guiding Fitzroy-Doncaster to victory with an unbeaten 168-run stand.
But the Panthers were left ruing a pair of dropped catches and two botched run-out attempts that should have nipped the partnership in the bud.
Maxwell was dropped off Darren Pattinson’s bowling before scoring and then again when he was on two.
Needless to say he made the Panthers pay, hitting nine fours and three sixes in his 121-ball innings. He left the anchor role to his captain, Mash, who took the opportunity to get his eye in ahead of his commanding double-century for the Victorian second XI this week.
Pattinson (1/27), who also played in the Bushranger seconds team alongside Panthers opener Brett Forsyth, was Dandenong’s only wicket-taker as the Lions cruised to victory with 13 overs to spare.
Tellingly, Pattinson was also the Panthers’ top-scorer.
He added 46 from 55 deliveries after arriving at the crease with the dismissal of top-order mainstay Darren Dempsey (34) with the score at 6/106.
Ayres has put the acid on his batsman at various stages this summer, but he turned his attention to the bowlers this week.
With Darren’s younger brother James set to miss the remainder of the season because of a back injury, Ayres believes it is up to Dandenong’s lesser-lights to provide support for Pattinson senior.
“I think our whole bowling group needs to step up, because they’re just not performing well enough as a group,” he said.
“Teams are sitting on Darren and scoring off the other bowlers, so it’s probably the rest of the guys who need to step up.
“A few home truths were put to them on Saturday night, so hopefully they’ll respond.”
The Panthers, now sitting 11th on the overall ladder, will begin their two-day clash with third-placed Carlton at Shepley Oval on Saturday.