By Tyler Lewis
Dandenong is fighting an uphill battle in order to claim its first win ahead of the Christmas break.
The Panthers tasted defeat for the sixth consecutive time on Saturday, falling to a strong Ringwood outfit at Russell Lucas Oval.
By posting just 5/178, Dandenong needed to claim 10 wickets and do so in an orderly fashion if it was to overcome the Rams.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, neither occurred, leaving the visitors with a disappointing eight-wicket loss.
The Rams passed the total with over 20 overs to spare.
In a positive for the Panthers, promising young bat Max Marinic reached 64 while batting at number four.
Adam Amin – who originated out of the Dandenong District Cricket Association – was the stone in the Panthers’ shoe, crunching an almost run-a-ball 63 in the second dig.
Dandy has both of last summer’s grand finalists – Carlton and Casey South Melbourne – to round out the calendar year.
Casey South Melbourne, meanwhile, fell short yet again in another tight contest.
The Swans posted 9/209 from its allotted 50 overs, but it could’ve been far less if it wasn’t for 60 from Lachie Sperling.
Sperling’s 44-ball stay came at a desperate time for his side, which was 5/80 when he walked to the crease.
The all-rounder blazed six balls to the Schramms Reserve fence and three over it, as he put the Fitzroy Doncaster bowlers to the sword.
A 50-run opening stand got the Lions off to a solid start, before a 73-run second-wicket stand all but steadied the platform for an erupting finish.
The Swans were on the cusp of stealing victory from the clutches of defeat, before Lions’ batters Liam Barthorpe (100 not out) and Nick Fletcher (16 not out) finished with a flurry.
The pair hit three fours and a six in the 49th over to storm home to victory.
The loss is the third tight loss of the season for the Swans who now sit outside the eight.
VIC PREMIER CRICKET LADDER
TEAM W L PTS %
Northcote 6 0 36 2.0951
Carlton 5 1 30 1.3904
St Kilda 5 1 30 1.1937
Melbourne 5 1 29 1.8404
Ringwood 4 2 25 1.8188
Richmond 3 2 20 1.362
Essendon 3 3 19 1.1135
Melbourne University 3 3 19 0.9607
Footscray 3 3 18 0.9965
Camberwell Magpies 3 3 17 0.8622
Casey-South Melbourne 2 3 15 0.8742
Prahran 2 4 14 0.8963
Frankston Peninsula 2 3 14 0.8117
Fitzroy Doncaster 2 4 13 0.9035
Kingston Hawthorn 2 4 12 0.5837
Geelong 1 4 9 0.5837
Greenvale Kangaroos 1 5 7 0.6815
Dandenong 0 6 2 0.4792
