By David Nagel
Sometimes the cricket gods can be so unimaginably cruel!
Dandenong (6/201 declared) has been left frustrated to the core, and shattered, after a dominant day-one against Richmond (7/85) amounted to nothing in their Vic Premier Cricket semi-final at Central Reserve on Saturday.
Ending the season in the sixth place, and with Richmond in third, the Panthers had no choice but to chase victory on day one; with forecast rain for Sunday set to halt all day-two action.
If the rain came; which it did, the highest-ranked team during the season – being Richmond – would progress to this weekend’s preliminary final against ladder-leaders St Kilda.
Richmond skipper Sam Mills won the toss and sent the Panthers into bat; and made two key early breakthroughs.
The Panthers then dug deep and showed their true colours, with club-legend Brett Forsyth (98) and emerging star Shobit Singh (55) combining for a 137-run stand for the third wicket.
Forsyth cracked 10 boundaries in another magnificent innings for his beloved cricket club, while Singh worked the ball beautifully during his 100-ball vigil.
If Forsyth thought the pain of falling two runs short of his century was tough to deal with; it would prove nothing as the Panthers impressive push for victory fell just three wickets short of its target.
After declaring, the Panthers needed all 10 Richmond wickets in the remaining 40 overs on Saturday.
Dreams of victory soon turned from hopeful to realistic after Noah Hurley (3/22) and James Nanopoulos (1/20) ripped the heart of the Richmond top order.
James Doherty (0), Rhys Healy (0) and Dan Scholz (5) were all back in the sheds after four overs, and when Jawid Khan (3/17) removed Jonathon D’Rozario (14) and Andrew Humphries (0), the Tigers were sinking quickly at 5/27 after 15 overs.
The Panthers were now on top, needing the remaining five wickets in 25 overs.
But Mitch Perry (23 off 62 balls) and skipper Mills (20 not out off 68) defied the Panthers for a painful 12 overs, before the wickets of Perry and Reiley Mark (5) revived the Panthers title hopes.
The equation had changed again; Dandenong now needing three wickets from the last 10.
But Mills then found an able ally, with Max Parker (15 not out off 37 balls) resisting one final push from Forsyth and his desperate team of triers.
The Panthers dominated the day; and walk away with a moral victory, but Richmond now progress to the penultimate games of the season.
St Kilda host Richmond at the Junction Oval this Saturday, while Carlton will be freshened up and waiting for the Camberwell Magpies at Princes Park.
The Vic premier Cricket grand final will take place at the Junction across three days from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 March.
