By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong’s difficult season in Victorian Premier Cricket continued with a five-wicket loss to Geelong at home on Saturday.
Batting first in the 50-over contest at Shepley Oval, the Panthers were rolled for 156 in the 46th over by an economical Geelong outfit.
Just three batters, in Matthew Wilson (41 off 63), Angus Newman (22 off 38) and Gehan Seneviranne (16 off 21) scored at a strike rate higher than 50 as a steady flow of wickets restricted their ability to build a defendable total.
Wilson and Newman’s sixth-wicket stand of 42 offered the most resistance, with Wilson top-scoring before he was caught behind off Geelong seamer Thomas Neate.
Despite hitting just the two boundaries (one four and one six), he was able to rotate the strike on his way to his highest one-day score of the season.
Defending a modest total, Warren Ayres’ side managed to take wickets with some regularity but will rue a pair of near-misses early in the innings that would have really had them in the contest.
After Braden Taeuber removed Geelong skipper Josh McDonald in the 12th over, he very nearly had a wicket next ball, but the edge off Oliver Peake’s bat fell short of the slip fielder.
In the very next over, wicketkeeper Sam Newell dropped what would have been a screamer, diving to his right off the bowling of Wilson.
Newman’s 2-24 off five overs completed a solid all-round day as the Panthers’ only multiple wicket taker, but 156 was always going to be difficult to defend, and so it proved, with the visitors needing just 34 overs to chase it down with five wickets in hand.
Taeuber, Wilson and Ben Allison all chipped-in with one wicket each.
Dandenong will travel to Greenvale for a two-day game next week as it attempts to win its second game of the season.
