By JARROD POTTER
NOBLE Park’s bowlers couldn’t reproduce their magic opening round in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association (VSDCA) competition, conceding 238 runs to Bayswater on day one of their two-dayer.
Dean Connell was the elusive Bayswater batsman that Noble Park couldn’t remove from the crease. Connell batted most of the innings to set up the large total for the visitors.
At 5/106, with all the heavy lifting done by coach Rizan Mawzoon (5/59), Connell bided his time and finally found a partner to set a total alongside – with captain Sean Flynn (49) helping the opener add 99 for the sixth wicket.
Flynn was stumped one-shy of a deserving half-century and from there the tail had no wag in it. Connell was left to farm the strike, but eventually fell to Mawzoon – the coach’s fifth wicket of the match – as the Bayswater opener edged him to wicketkeeper Dirk Vandergert.
Marasinghe Perera (3/51) toiled at the other end to give Mawzoon support and eventually cashed in with three lower order wickets. Mevan Fernando (1/23) and Danushka Ekanayake (1/34) were the other two Bulls to claim wickets in a tough day at the office.
It will be the first significant test of the Noble Park batting order, needing 239 next Saturday, with the session starting at 1pm at Moodemere Street.
Noble Park’s cross-town rivals, Endeavour Hills, is chasing 209 posted by Yarraville following some impressive bowling from Richard Saniga (4/37) and Chris Pereira (3/35). The Eagles are 0/11 in reply from its 10 overs.
