After losing the toss and being put into the field, the Swans frustrated the Panthers on a lifeless deck at Casey Fields with spinner Clive Rose (4-77) and seamer Matt Hawkins (3-34) taking key late wickets as the Panthers were bowled out for 254.

Swans openers Jake Best and Rohan Blandford batted out the last three overs of play and will resume on 0-2 this Saturday.

Best, who captains the Swans, says his side needs to fight hard this Saturday to beat the Panthers' score.

"We will need everyone to perform but with all the things we have been working on under Mark Ridgway we are always confident we can make any score," he said.

Panthers openers Brett Forsyth (57) and Tom Donnell made 41 for the first wicket before Rose bowled the latter batsman.

From that point the match ebbed and flowed with the Swans bowled outside off-stump attempting to lure their opponents into false shots.

Each time a Panthers batsman looked set he would soon find himself dismissed.

Rose was especially effective in the final hours of the day combining with Matt Hawking (3-34) to take the final four wickets for four runs.

"Clive has been bowling so well this season; he had another fantastic day today," Best said. "He really is a captain's dream because he keeps coming up with wickets."

Panthers captain Darren Dempsey, whom Rose dismissed for 41, fell three runs short of passing 10,000 for his Premier Cricket career.

Returning Panthers batsman Peter Sweeney (51) showed his form with a 66-run seventh-wicket partnership with Ben Hocking.

Dempsey said the Panthers had wanted 300 or more from their innings. "This score doesn't seem like enough. We wanted 300-plus, but we will have to make it enough by bowling well," he said.

Australian Twenty20 wicketkeeper Matt Wade opted to play this game as a batsman for the Swans, as he prepares a busy few months keeping for both Victoria and Australia.

Wade showed his versatility, bowling four overs of nippy medium pace.

Play resumes at Casey Fields this Saturday at 11am.