Wicked wicket wipeout

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG coach Warren Ayres has seen just about everything in his storied cricket career, but even he was stunned by what transpired at Melbourne University on Saturday.
Ayres watched his Panthers skittle the students for a paltry 42, before driving home the advantage to be within five wickets of an outright victory by the end of day one.
The Panthers made light of Uni’s batting woes by surging to a declared total of 6/163, then continued the carnage to have the home side in tatters at 5/57 at stumps.
“It was unbelievable,” Ayres reflected on the rout.
“We went into the game hoping to get six points (for a first-innings win), but we’re three quarters of the way towards winning outright.”
A 10-point result would seem to be a mere formality this weekend.
That would thrust the fourteenth-placed Panthers back into the finals’ fold ahead of a last-round clash with winless Casey-South Melbourne.
Uni’s first innings total was the lowest ever recorded against Dandenong – still 22 runs better than the league mark set by Fitzroy in 1958.
The scorecard included several absurd statistics, not least of which being the figures of Panthers pace duo Darren Pattinson (4/5 from 9.1 overs) and Paul Boraston (3/4 from seven).
Medium-pacer James Nanopoulos (2/4 from two) and teenage quick James Wilcock (1/10 from five) were expensive by comparison.
The Panthers conceded 10 sundries, while Tom Savill and Paul Percy were the most productive of the Uni batsmen with six apiece.
In reply, Dandenong openers Tom Donnell (56) and Brett Forsyth (32) were barely troubled on their way to a 78-run opening stand – and a 10-wicket first innings win.
Both sacrificed their wicket in pursuit of quick runs as the Panthers took just 33 overs – the same number as Uni’s first dig – to streak to a 121-run lead.
Burly paceman Brent Fairbanks was the chief destroyer second time around, claiming 3/3 from his three overs to expose the Uni tail heading into day two.
Ayres said the Panthers had no hesitation in electing to bowl first and he was delighted to see his bowlers rewarded after some trying times this summer.
“They’ve been bowling with an unbelievable amount of bad luck this year, so it gives them some real encouragement,” he said.
The odds are that Dandenong’s luck has changed too late, but an outright victory on Saturday would set-up an enthralling local derby with the Swans the following week.