By ROY WARD
ONE poor hour could cost Dandenong Panthers dearly in their Premier Cricket match with Carlton which resumes this Saturday.
After winning the toss and putting the Blues into bat on a difficult Shepley Oval wicket, the Panthers had the Blues on their knees at 9-179 with Nathan Pilon making 47.
But the home side lost focus and allowed the last pair Tim Welsford (65 not out) and Ryan Sidebottom (33no) to record a 79-run stand for the 10th wicket, getting the Blues to 258 all out.
Panthers captain Tom Donnell (5no) and fellow opener Daniel Doran (6no) took the Panthers to 0-11 at stumps and will return to the crease this Saturday.
Donnell said his side had performed well for most of the day but struggled to get the final wicket.
“We thought 250 was about par but we would have liked a few less, we will need to bat well to make those runs,” he said.
“In that hour the last wicket got away from us, our bowling was ordinary and our fielding dropped off as well. Those two batsmen batted well, take nothing away from them.”
Opening bowler Justin Butterfield (3-42) continued his excellent form while James Nanopoulos (3-43) was also among the wickets.
“Butterfield did well early and some of his deliveries were just unplayable with the way he was moving the ball,” Donnell said.
With a tough chase ahead, the Panthers’ challenge was to bat out the day, Donnell said.
“If we can bat our 90 overs we will have no problems getting that score. Hopefully the wicket and the weather is good again, we just need to get ourselves in then stay there.
“Early on it was very hard to bat out there but as the day goes on the pitch becomes better and better to bat on so we need to stick around.”
The Panthers resume play against Carlton at Shepley Oval this Saturday at noon.
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