By JARROD POTTER
QUITE a lot wasn’t enough for Dandenong, with Essendon (3/296) steamrolling the Panthers and chasing down a near-triple century total with 12 overs to spare.
Following Brett Forsyth’s stellar 153 last week, Essendon decided to pile on the runs this time around as Dandenong struggled to break partnerships. Essendon worked its way into the innings via a 67-run opening stand from captain Ben MacRae (63) and Aaron Shellie (55). Shellie fell to James Nanopoulos (1/52), but all that did was bring Aaron Ayre (82) to the crease, who belted the Panthers about the field as he compiled 103 runs with the skipper. Ayre smashed his way to his half-century before MacRae finally succumbed to Dandenong as James Wilcock (1/67) held onto a caught-and-bowled.
One Essendon smashing half-centurion dismissed only replaced him with another – this time Solomon Mire (74no) who partnered with Ayre for 79 runs and knocked in the final 50 alongside James Seymour (11no) to guide Essendon to a comfortable victory. Nathan Lambden (1/52) was the only other Panther to grab a wicket in the dismal outing.
Dandenong will need to brush aside its poor 1-1-4 start to the season when the Panthers hosts Prahran in a two-dayer at Shepley Oval.
