Right: Brent Fairbanks slipped this beauty past Bushrangers’ andAustralian run machine David Hussey to dismiss him for five. 72487
By Jarrod Potter
DANDENONG will wonder how the match slipped away from them on Saturday, as Prahran beat the Panthers by 19 runs in a rain-affected game.
The heavy rain that lashed Shepley Oval on Saturday morning reduced the match to 26 overs a side and Dandenong didn’t hesitate to send Prahran in to bat on a juicy wicket.
Tearaway Victorian quick Peter Siddle opened the bowling and finished his allotted six overs with figures of 1/14.
Steady dismissals came from the other end – Brent Fairbanks bowled David Hussey and Paul Boraston got a snick from Chris Rogers – to see Prahran in trouble at 4/38.
Their revival came about through Neil Schlitter (66) and Steven De Bolfo (27) as Prahran finished off at 4/136. Fairbanks was the best of the bowlers for Dandenong with 2/15.
The figure of 136 proved too much for Dandenong to chase, as they skidded through the middle overs; slumping to 5/107 and snuffing out any hope of a comeback.
The initiative from opener Tom Donnell (32) soon abated as Prahran’s Stephen Seymour and Daniel Salpietro began to make inroads into the batting order.
Darren Dempsey and Brett Forsyth (44) made dour contributions to the run chase, but weren’t piling them on quickly enough owing to the shortened 26-over match.
When both were dismissed, the Panthers required nearly eight-an-over, and the expectation to score was too much for the lower order, which was bogged down by the pressure of spin trio Salpietro, Hussey and Bryce McGain. The Panthers batted out their remaining overs without getting crucial boundaries away; finishing on 7/117.
“They batted a great partnership,” Dandenong captain Darren Dempsey said of the Schlitter/De Bolfo combination. “That partnership made more than I expect and the last couple of overs went for 30.”
Dempsey blames his innings, 11 runs off 27 balls, for stalling the Panthers chase.
“That said, I think 136 was a gettable total until I went in,” Dempsey said.
“I said to the boys after the game that I took responsibility for it; wasn’t my best innings.
“We lost our way in the latter half of the innings when Brett and I were in, and neither of us could get off strike or find the gaps.”
The return of Peter Siddle helped highlight the vast gulf between Premier and international cricket Dempsey said.
“It’s always good to get an Australian player available,” Dempsey said.
“His (Siddle) overs were fantastic, and it shows the skill level difference between him and other guys in the competition.
“It’s a shame we weren’t able to repay a few individual performances; Forsyth, Fairbanks, Donnell and Siddle in particular. Their efforts were let down by performances such as my own.”
In a rematch of last year’s Premier grand final, Dandenong face Frankston-Peninsula at AH Butler Oval on Saturday.
“They’ll be out to exact a bit of revenge,” Dempsey said.
“They’re a nice even team at the moment. Matt Chasemore has had a good start to the season with both bat and ball, so he’ll be a challenge to cope with.”
