By Jonty Ralphsmith
Noble Park is into the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association (VSDCA) grand final following a thrilling win over Brighton on the weekend.
Sahan Perera opened the bowling with his off-spin, running through the Brighton top-order and finishing with 6/53 including the key wicket of champion Ricky Damiano for eight as the visitors were rolled for 81.
The Parkers passed the total late on day one, four wickets down, going along nicely with skipper Janaka Liyanabadalge making a composed 47 to guide his team past the low total.
But a collapse of 6/35 kept Brighton in with a chance of taking second innings points and qualifying for the grand final, with the hosts just 41 ahead with 63 overs remaining in the game.
Brighton got a quickfire 153, declaring eight down after 21 overs with a lead of 112 with 42 overs remaining in the day’s play.
Liyanabadalge took 5/61 off eight as no bowlers were immune from Brighton’s rapid scoring.
Brighton’s Peter Cassidy was the danger man in the closing innings, striking at regular intervals to keep his team in the game as Noble Park’s attention shifted to batting out the overs.
Noble Park made just 70 off 42 overs as they adopted a defend-first mindset, typified by number six Jaspreet Singh, who played out 105 balls late in the day to see his side through to the grand final, eight down at the close of play.
Noble Park was five down before Rajapakse Rajapakse was dismissed to close out the 33rd over, Matthew Pearson dismissed four overs later and then Kolitha Weerasekera 24 balls thereafter.
It left Brighton with a sniff in the last two overs, needing two wickets in the last eight balls of the match, Singh ultimately able to maintain his composure and face out a maiden to close out play.
Perera was also important in the second innings, absorbing 72 balls, with that pair facing 177 of the 252 balls in the second innings, as the rest of the batters succumbed to the pressure.
Noble Park will face Ormond in the grand final, which finished the home-and-away season in fifth spot, before qualifying for the big dace with a 37-run victory over Elsternwick and one-wicket win over Mount Waverley.
The teams squared off in round four, with Bhanuka Keppetipola taking four wickets and Sahan Perera making 54 as Noble chased down 6/194 with three wickets in the shed.
