By Marcus Uhe
One wicket stood between Dandenong and an important win in Victorian Premier Cricket on Saturday against Melbourne University that would have given their chances of qualifying for finals action in 2023/24 a significant boost.
Making the trip to Carlton to play the Students, the Panthers were unable to defend 9/184 in a One Day contest, the winning runs conceded in the 48th over of the contest.
Dandenong had their hosts on the ropes; a fightback after an excellent second-wicket partnership from Melbourne University ensured that the contest was in the balance with the overs ticking away in the fading late-evening sun.
From 1/91 in the 21st over, Dandenong took the next eight wickets for just 66 runs.
Spinner Vishwa Ramkumar initiated the collapse with the wicket of Andrej Yaksender, breaking an important 89-run stand, before wickets began to fall with regularity.
Numbers four to seven each fell for single figures, one each to Ramkumar and Noah Hurley and two run-outs encapsulating the drama unfolding at Melbourne University.
By the 39th over the hosts were reeling at 9/157 having lost three wickets in three consecutive overs and still 28 runs shy of the target with only a single wicket remaining.
The final wicket proved elusive, however, as the last pair of Jeremy Peacock and Mark Stafford clung-on for dear life.
Their final-wicket stand of 28 came primarily in singles, with a handful of boundaries sprinkled into the nine-over stay.
With the scores tied at 9/184 at the beginning of the 48th over, a sharp return catch opportunity to Noah Hurley was dropped in his follow-through.
Stafford drove the ball back at Hurley, who fumbled the catching opportunity after snatching at the ball in its trajectory.
A pitched-up fuller ball on the over’s second delivery was clipped off Stafford’s toes through mid-wicket, the batters completing a single to secure the points.
Hurley was the standout bowler for the Panthers, taking 3/46, Ramkumar grabbing 2/34.
Consistent wickets fell throughout the Panthers’ batting innings, no one managing any score of significance as they eked-out their allotted overs.
Ben Allison offered some stability in a rear-guard with the tail, hitting 37, while forming a 51-run stand with Gehan Seneviratne and a 27-run union with Ramkumar, after the Panthers fell to 6/90 in the 29th over.
The loss sees Dandenong fall from 10th to 13th, putting a significant dent in their chances to qualify for finals action with just three rounds remaining, nine points adrift from Melbourne in eighth place.
The Panthers host Camberwell in a two-day game next week with both days played over the same weekend, on Saturday and Sunday.
