General News
28 January, 2021
Bowlers lead Noorat victory
NOORAT’S best bowling performance during skipper Steve O’Connor’s tenure has pushed the side closer to a finals berth.
NOORAT’S best bowling performance during skipper Steve O’Connor’s tenure has pushed the side closer to a finals berth.
The Steamrollers produced a dominant display with the ball last Saturday, dismissing ladder leaders Mortlake for 124 en route to a fourwicket win.
Four bowlers took two wickets apiece, before Daniel Kenna (31 not out), Jacob Fishwick (23) and Gus Bourke (20) guided Noorat home in the run chase.
O’Connor was pleased with his side’s performance in the victory.
“In the two years I’ve been in charge that was the best we have bowled,” he said.
“We didn’t bowl too many extras or bad balls and put them under pressure which made it hard for them to score freely like they are accustomed too.
“We tied them down and took regular wickets which helped.”
O’Connor said the victory would boost his side’s spirits, with the Steamrollers moving just percentage outside of top spot.
“It gives us confidence that we can match it with the best teams in the competition,” he said.
“We’re under no illusions that they were missing a couple of handy players so there’s no doubt that if we face them again it will be a lot tougher.
“But for our boys it definitely gives us confidence going into the back half of the year.”
Noorat has a chance to strengthen its stranglehold on a top two spot with a clash against lowly-ranked Simpson this Saturday.
While O’Connor said a top two spot come finals would be a great result for his club, the focus was on ensuring they had enough wins on the board to feature in the top four.
“We just want to keep winning enough games to make finals,” he said.
“Our first objective is to make the four and if we can do that then we might reassess where we are, but for now making finals is our goal.
“I think last Saturday we set ourselves a standard with our bowling and fielding so that’s also a priority for us now.
“If we can produce something similar each week we’re going to be a pretty hard side to beat going forward and if we can maintain that standard there’s no reason why we can’t improve even further.”
Elsewhere, a four wicket win on Saturday lifted Heytesbury Rebels back up to third on the ladder.
The Rebels chased down Cobden’s total of 9/119 in 41 overs, with knocks of 29 from Simon Harkness and 26 not out from Chris Vogels getting the home side over the line.
Simpson’s winless run was extended at Terang Turf, with the Tigers defeated convincingly by the Goats.
Simpson was dismissed for 76 after winning the toss and electing to bat, with Terang chasing down the total without the loss of a wicket in16 overs.
Phil Vines (19) and Aaron Harding (15) were Simpson’s best performers.
Pomborneit recorded a nine wicket victory over Camperdown.
Lahiru Fernando (6/11) and Tim Place (4/16) combined to dismiss Camperdown for 51 in the pair’s clash at S.A. Wright Oval.
The Bulls then needed just 13 overs to pass the target, with Dave Murphy top scoring with 24.
In this weekend’s matches, Cobden welcomes Mortlake, Bookaar hosts Pomborneit, Terang takes on Heytesbury Rebels and Simpson plays Noorat.
Meanwhile, Terang Noorat bowler Jack Vaughan joined a rare club last Sunday.
The young bowler took a hat-trick in his side’s win over Ecklin.
Jack took wickets on the third, fourth and fifth ball of the 16th over, with all three dismissals caught.
Jack finished the match with figures of 4/5 off three overs as Terang Noorat won by seven wickets.