Above: Noble Park second XI player Matt Crozier guides the ball to third man for a quick single on his way to scoring 32.RAIN cruelly denied Noble Park victory against Mount Waverley on the second day of their Victorian Sub District Cricket Association match on Saturday.
Defending its mammoth 319, Noble Park had the home side 9/139 with an hour to play when the rain that had been threatening throughout the day forced players from the field.
Noble Park’s dominance with the ball had started early when Damien Fleming broke through in the fifth over.
With the overcast and humid conditions conducive to swing bowling, the Mount Waverley batsmen had great difficulty in playing the former Test bowler and Fleming was duly rewarded in the 15th over when he took three wickets, including two in successive balls.
Fleming’s attempt to become the first player to take a hat-trick for both Australia and Noble Park was unsuccessful.
When Ash Perera picked up his first wicket in the 20th over, Mount Waverley’s hopes of victory were all but gone at 5/48.
A run out and a wicket by Mark Rendle left the home side 7/103 off 40 overs at tea.
With the sky getting darker by the minute, Mount Waverley was content to chew up as much time as possible without losing wickets and did so successfully until the 52nd over, when Ash Perera picked up his second wicket.
With rain falling lightly captain Gavin Hurley brought himself on and had immediate luck, snaring the wicket of number three Matthew Galbraith, who had kept the Mount Waverley innings together with 67.
Only three more overs were bowled before the rain became heavy enough to force the players from the field, leaving Mount Waverley 180 runs shy of victory but cruelly Noble Park one wicket from the six points.
Fleming finished with 4/28 off 17 overs, Ash Perera 2/43 off 20, Mark Rendle 1/19 off nine and Hurley 2/0 off two.
As has been the case over the past couple of seasons, the second XI slipped dramatically to defeat, losing its last four wickets for only 10 and being dismissed for 147, eight runs short of Mount Waverley’s 155.
Paul O’Meara with 45 and Matt Crozier (32) were the only batsmen to dominate the Mount Waverley bowlers.
Both the third and fourth XI matches were not completed when VSDCA called off play in these grades early on Saturday.
