Footscray Edgewater enjoyed a perfect weekend, clinching their first two-day win of the Premier Cricket season over Melbourne Uni on Saturday, before grabbing a one-day win over Dandenong on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Dogs were defending their 6-360 declared from the previous week; they started well, with veteran Lucas Dredge dismissing the top three batsmen to reduce the home side to 3-38.
The Dogs’ bowlers hunted as a pack to keep the scoring in check, and an extra wicket to Dredge and one to Hamish Winter-Irving had the hosts in trouble at 5-86 at lunch.
From there the Students mounted a fightback through Tom Rogers (34), Liam Scammell (59) and William Shute (93 not out).
They started to whittle down the target, but it would prove a mountain too high, as the wickets kept falling before the home side could mount a meaningful challenge.
The Students were eventually bowled out for 269, with Dredge, the standout bowler on the day, finishing on 5-76 off 17.5 overs, while Hayden Butterworth did his bit with 2-17.
The day in the field clearly didn’t tire the Dogs’ batsmen for their game the next day, as they rattled along at a run a ball against Dandenong.
Much as it was on day one against Melbourne Uni, it was Dean Russ and Greg Munro who did the bulk of the damage with a commanding 143-run opening partnership.
While Munro fell short of back-to-back hundreds, finishing with 77 off 91 balls, Russ went on to smash his second hundred of the season, at the rate of a run a ball, 142 not out.
The Dogs’ star batted through the innings and shared strong partnerships with Matthew Underwood (59) and Winter-Irving (18) as the visitors posted 5-302 off their 50 overs.
Winter-Irving started the defence well for the Dogs, dismissing Dandenong captain Tom Donnell for a second ball duck, and while most Panthers’ batsmen made starts, none went on to post a big innings, as Russ did, to ensure a successful chase.
Brett Forsyth made 74 and former test player James Pattinson 66, but every Dogs’ bowler was able to make a breakthrough in what was a great team bowling effort. Winter-Irving (2-36) and Butterworth (2-47) were the only multiple wicket-takers as Dandenong closed on 8-277.
The two wins pushed Footscray Edgewater up to third on the table after six games.
