Premier Cricket: Pednekar, D’Rozario debut for Monash Tigers
Yash Pednekar and Jono D’Rozario have played a lot of representative cricket together. On Saturday they made their Premier Cricket debuts together for Monash Tigers.
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They first played together in 2011-12, for the Dandenong District Cricket Association Under 12 representative team in the Mitchell Shield.
In the years since Yash Pednekar and Jono D’Rozario have been teammates in regional and state under-age sides, most recently in the Vic Country team at the national Under 19 championships in Perth before Christmas.
Country, coached by Dandenong’s Nick Speak, made the grand final.
On Saturday the 18-year-olds made their Victorian Premier Cricket First XI debuts together, for Monash Tigers against Dandy at Central Reserve.
As is customary with the Tigers, their parents presented them with their caps.
After the hosts were sent in, Pednekar’s introduction to Premier ranks was to receive his first ball from Dandenong’s Test fast bowler James Pattinson. He watched it go through to keeper Jacques Augustin.
The right-hander scored his first run off Pattinson, a squirt to the leg side for a single, and settled in to play a long and impressive innings.
Stylish in defence and attack, the North Dandenong lad batted through to tea and was out after it for 58, caught at slip by Dandy captain Tom Donnell off medium pacer Peter Cassidy.
The Panthers’ reigning Ryder Medal champion, Brett Forsyth, gave Pednekar a bat on the back as he made for the pavilion, a classy gesture.
He faced 213 deliveries in a 265-minute stay and hit four boundaries, two in one over off international offie Suraj Randiv.
From there, Randiv (3-68 off 26 overs) made the tyke earn every run.
Peter Cassidy (2-42 off 23 overs, with 12 maiden) put a clamp on scoring too, on a slow wicket on the bottom ground at Central Reserve.
Pednekar batted briefly with D’Rozario, the son of former DDCA Wookey Medal champion Shane D’Rozario of Buckley Ridges.
Promoted after a dazzling 144 not out in the seconds, D’Rozario (who also bowls tidy leg-spin) went out at No 7 and made 16 off 38 balls before going LBW to Englishman Josh Shaw.
That left the hosts 8-168, but they finished with a handy 247 off 93.1 overs after a knock of 59 from No 9 Jackson Waters.
James Nanopoulos, who spent time off the ground with a side injury, took the last wicket to go to 44 for the season, two shy of Dandy’s record aggregate.
Pattinson had taken sick on Friday but insisted on playing, another indication of his commitment to the club. He opened with three overs and from there had spells on and off the ground (his father, Johnny, wasn’t exactly in robust health either).
Pattinson finished with 2-48 off 18 overs. His new-ball partner Shaw took 2-55 off 15.
The match resumes today at Central Reserve.
* As Speak noted on Saturday, the difference in experience between the team was vast.
The Tigers had five players under the age of 19.
Dandenong went in with two Test men (Pattinson and Randiv), a first-class player (Shaw), a state squad member (Ed Newman), a Ryder Medal winner (Forsyth) and five premiership players.
* In the Second XI match, Monash Tiger Andrew Humphries played a blistering innings at Shepley Oval, hitting 8 sixes and 12 fours in an innings of 128 off 73 deliveries. Teammate Sam Mills (104) scored a century too as the Tigers reached 318.