Noble effort for win

NOBLE Park Cricket Club has progressed to a Victorian Sub District Cricket Association semi-final against Caulfield after defeating Elsternwick in a two-day game on the weekend.
Elsternwick had been undefeated all season and the victory has the Noble Park side eyeing a spot in its group grand final.
Batting first on Saturday, Noble Park was faced with a low and slow Elsternwick pitch and struggled through 74 overs before being bowled out for 191.
Gavin Hurley (51) anchored the innings with a confidence-boosting half-century and found support from Rod Douthie (35) and Andrew O’Meara (26).
On Sunday, the attention turned to the Noble Park pace team of Damien Fleming, Ash Perera and Kynan Ford.
The unpredictable pitch that troubled Noble Park the day before turned from foe to friend, and early wickets quickly turned the team’s 191 total into a defendable target.
Perera got the first and second wickets in his first two overs, and when Fleming found the edge early in his spell, Elsternwick was 3/20 and staring down the barrel of their first loss.
Luck proved to be on Noble Park’s side when Paul McDonald was handed the ball and took a freakish wicket.
A full toss was smashed into the foot of silly mid-off fielder O’Meara, but deflected skywards and landed in the hands of the fielder at cover.
Elsternwick rallied with a partnership that saw the score tick past 100, but Perera and Fleming were reintroduced into the attack and proved too much for the middle order batsmen to handle.
When McDonald (2/33) managed to get a finger on a ball that was driven straight into the non-striker’s stumps, the game was over and Elsternwick had been dismissed for 129.
Fleming impressed again with 4/27 and Perera contributed 3/32.
If the two speed machines can collect another seven wickets between them this weekend, Noble Park could very well land in the group grand final.
Elsternwick will use its double chance in a match against Malvern.