Local sides in slammin’ form

Dandenong champ Brett Forsyth struck a half-century against Prahran. 201968 Picture: ROB CAREW

By Tyler Lewis and Nick Creely

After a start like the Panthers had on Wednesday 4 December, Dandenong were in the box seat to take home the points against Prahran in the Super Slam.

James Nanopoulos and Brett Forsyth opened up once again and got their side off to a dream start with the bat.

Forsyth – more the aggressive of the two in the early stages – found the rope with ease, but Nanopoulos wasn’t far behind him.

Forsyth brought up his half-century from just 36 balls, before Nanopoulos did the same from just 38 balls.

When Dandenong lost its first scalp of Forsyth (55) with the score at 1/123, the wheels threatened to shake.

But Nanopoulos and Edwards squashed Prahran’s hopes of a collapse when they consistently hit and cleared the fence.

Nanopoulos fell just short of the triple figure milestone but completed a destructive knock of 96 from just 64 balls that included 10 boundaries and two maximums.

Chasing 202 for victory, the True Blues needed a fiery start.

The in-form James Billington loomed to do so.

Billington and Blaich got going before a superb set of six from Gehan Seneviratne changed the direction of the match when the leg-spinner sent both back to the sheds in the space of three balls.

The True Blues whacked their way back into the contest at stages, but the mountain proved too steep to climb.

Dandenong claiming a 29-run victory and are equal second on the Victorian Super Slam ladder with two matches to go.

After a disrupted start to the Super Slam, due to washouts, games played in near darkness and a last over thriller, Casey-South Melbourne finally got on the board after knocking over the previously undefeated Frankston Peninsula at home.

Winning the toss and batting, seamer Nick Boland (3/25) did plenty of damage early, before marquees Ruwantha Kellapotha (2/13) and Sam Batson (2/22) superbly worked in tandem through the middle overs to put a serious dent into the Swans.

But the experience of Nathan Freitag (42 off 33 balls) ensured the Swans would have something meaningful to defend with a composed cameo featuring two mammoth sixes guiding the home side to 8/114.

But it was with the ball that the Swans truly shone.

Setting the tone as he enjoys a strong season with the white ball, Nathan Lambden (2/19) knocked over dangerous opener Nathan Harford, before Englishman Felix Organ was sent packing the very next ball.

Despite Buckley Ridges star David White (33) holding firm, the wickets for the Heat kept tumbling around him, with skipper Luke Wells (3/14) in particular putting in a star showing with the ball, while Josh Dowling (2/16) and Nathan Freitag (2/9) each got the rewards as the visitors were tumbled out for just 99.

Left-arm tweaker Ashvin Adihetty (0/15 from four overs) showed some impressive signs, and bowled a maiden for the Swans.

Close region rivals Casey-South Melbourne and Dandenong will do battle in Round 6 Super Slam action at Casey Fields on Wednesday night, with the action kick starting at 5.15pm.