By JARROD POTTER
VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET – Round 17 (day 1)
RUNS on the board never hurt at the gale-force home of wind (Casey Fields) with Casey-South Melbourne (209) leaving a middle-range chase for St Kilda (0/31).
Anchored at the top by Victorian Bushranger and baggy green holder Matt Wade (60), the Swans built off the international keeper’s early work.
Alongside Wade was Casey’s young spinning all-rounder Lachie Sperling (23), adding Devin Pollock (19) and a rear-guard knock from skipper Chris Hall (37) kept one of Casey Fields 4’s countless scoreboards ticking along.
The problem all along was an opposing international – young spinner James Muirhead (6/83). Muirhead – who earned his cap as a Twenty20 international player last year – spun through all and sundry around Casey Fields. He gave no inch as he picked up scalps from top to bottom across the Casey contingent from his 22 overs.
It would leave Casey short of stumps – despite a gutsy knock from tailender Leigh Diston (11 not out) off 46 balls – as St Kilda captain Rob Quiney (21 not out) helped tick off 31 of the required tally by the close of the day.
NORTHCOTE v DANDENONG
Momentum heading into the off-season is never a terrible thing as Dandenong (238) looked to excise some demons from a lacklustre year on turf.
Tom Donnell (99) led the charge as he knocked in a 50-run stand with Brett Forsyth (7) and 99 in tandem with Peter Sweeney (36) – the latter coming off a dogged unbeaten half-century the week before.
Donnell had the home side running to all parts of Bill Lawry Oval en route to his fourth 50-plus score of 2014/15. He was cruelly denied a third century this season as Matt Short (4/60) cleaned him up one shy of the milestone.
From there Dandenong collapsed – losing 6/44 as the Panthers were flung back to the dressing rooms instantly.
Captain Dan Doran (38) notched his best score of the season to keep the Panthers at the crease while wickets fell around him though. He would be the last man out – one of Josh Sundberg’s (3/28) three lower order wickets – as the visitors came unstuck in the dying overs of the day.
James Wilcock (1/6) made the important breakthrough before stumps as he sent Lindsay Hassett (0) back to the sheds with an LBW decision to his name.
