By Jonty Ralphsmith
Dandenong followed up a confidence-boosting nine-run morning win with a six-wicket afternoon loss in its pair of Saturday T20s in the Vic Premier Cricket Women’s competition.
Playing just her second match of the season for Dandenong, as WBBL commitments for the Melbourne Stars took priority, skipper Nicole Faltum chose to bat first against the highly fancied Plenty Valley.
The Panthers were never able to inject significant momentum into the innings, with just seven boundaries scored across the course of the innings as they reached 2/111.
The opening partnership was broken in the eighth over when Faltum (18 off 24) was deceived by a flighted ball from left arm tweaker Pearl Kapoor.
That brought Tiana Atkinson (35 not out off 34) to the crease, who ran hard with partner Jess Bohn (53 off 63) to put on 74 runs together and give the bowlers a score to bowl at.
Leggie Bhanu Mahendran got the Dandenong bowling innings off to the perfect start, taking a wicket in the second over to put her team in the driver’s seat.
By the time Nilakshi Perera knocked over Umasha Thimeshani in the sixth over, the run rate required had gone above six per over, with the incoming batters all feeling the scoring pinch.
Each time Plenty Valley looked to consolidate, Dandenong would strike, but 23 runs off the 18th and 19th overs put the hosts within 13 runs of victory at the start of the last.
Left arm quick Thivyaa Mahendran was given the responsibility of closing out the innings and did so with calmness, following a first ball dot with wickets in two of her next three balls to confirm a needed win for Dandenong.
Skiddy left arm finger spinner Linsey Smith bowled with excellent control to finish with 2/15 off four.
In the afternoon fixture against Geelong, Dandenong again opted to bat first but lost three wickets in the first four overs and was never able to recover.
Atkinson’s 52-ball 47 was a lone hand as no other batter reached double figures, the visitors reaching 7/91 off 20.
A 12-run first over from Geelong signified their intent, but the Panthers did well to build pressure through the middle overs, courtesy of Smith (2/13 off four) and Mahendran.
The run rate required went above six midway through the 18th over before Geelong found gaps and hit a pair of boundaries in the 19th to win with eight balls to spare.
Dandenong sits eighth on the table in the nine-team competition going into the Christmas break.
