Dandenong opener Brett Forsyth celebrates his 200th match with a century against Monash Tigers

DANDENONG opener Brett Forsyth celebrated his 200th match with an unbeaten century against Monash Tigers at Shepley Oval.

IT was Brett Forsyth’s 200th match in Premier Cricket.

And the Dandenong opener marked it with a hundred, a gemstone of an innings to go with the milestone.

The right-hander played with assurance and authority from the moment he opened his scoring against Monash Tigers with a push through covers at Shepley Oval on Saturday.

A few hours later he punched the ball through point for a boundary to bring up his 14th century for the Panthers.

Warm applause accompanied the raising of his bat, for it had been a superb century.

Along the way he shared his 14th century opening partnership with Tom Donnell to set up the home team for a strong 8-275.

The Panthers won the toss and Donnell decided to bat on a strip that had a green sheen.

Darren Pattinson said he would have bowled — but “Patto’’, playing his first game of the season after recovering from injury, is a bowler.

Tom Donnell and Brett Forsyth at stumps after raising their 14th century opening partnership for Dandenong.

Regardless, Donnell and Forsyth, so prolific as an opening pair, got the Panthers away to a safe start and turned it into another substantial stand.

In the first hour they matched each other good stroke for good stroke.

Forsyth cut Monash left-armer Fred Klaassen for four in the fourth over. Donnell did the same in the sixth over.

Forsyth drove Klaassen down the ground, his manner classical. Donnell drove Marcus Berryman through covers for four, similarly stylishly. When Blade Baxter was introduced from the creek end the captain hooked him for another boundary. And when Monash brought young leggie Tom O’Connell into the attack, Forsyth cracked his first ball, a long-hop, for four through mid-wicket.

A burst of boundaries followed from Donnell, a cover drive off O’Connell, a clip through wide mid-on off Dom Matarazzo, a pair of sweeps off the suffering O’Connell.

Dandenong went to lunch at 0-97 off 33 overs, Forsyth on 48 and Donnell on 47.

Another boundary from Donnell off leggie O’Connell brought up his 50 and the century partnership in the first over after lunch. And his pull shot soon after off the pacy Mitch Perry showed he could punish bowling fast and slow.

Forsyth reached his half-century with a single.

But on 124 the partnership was broken when O’Connell deceived Donnell with a wrong ‘un and was taken at slip. The skipper had faced 115 deliveries and hit 8 fours and 1 six.

No 3 Ed Newman (4) was LBW offering no shot to Klaassen, and then O’Connell, recovering from a rough start, had LJ Edwards caught in close for a duck and won an LBW shout against Cam Forsyth (7).

Forsyth and James Nanopoulos took Dandenong to tea at 4-190 off 66 overs, with the opener on 95.

After the break he advanced to triple figures with an off-side boundary, the century coming off 233 balls.

And he was still there at the close on 125 — off 317 balls, with 16 fours and 1 six — as the Panthers reached 8-275 in the first red-ball outing of the season.

Nanopoulos made 28 and James Wilcock 22, with the Tigers clawing back some ground in the final session.

O’Connell, either too full or too short early, could walk off with 4-88 off 30 overs, a good return from a fine young player.

Early in his innings Forsyth twice edged Klaassen to slip, but short of hopeful hands. Aside from that the ball beat his bat only once; there was a security about his innings, even when the impressive Klaassen bombed him with some short stuff in the middle session.

Forsyth won the duel by hooking him for four and then six.

A product of Springvale South Cricket Club, Forsyth, who turns 30 on Wednesday, made his debut for the Panthers in 2005-06 and has gone past 6500 runs in Premier Cricket.

Many more await him.