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Melbourne have secured a NRL preliminary finals berth with a pulsating 16-10 win at AAMI Park, forcing defending premiers North Queensland into a do-or-die clash next weekend with Brisbane.It was some revenge on Saturday night for the Storm, who last season were sent crashing out in their preliminary final against the Cowboys at the same venue.They will enjoy a week off, as North Queensland host the Broncos.Melbournes kicking game, including a 40-20 by skipper Cameron Smith, proved key, particularly in the dying stages.The minor premiers and the titleholders played out an absorbing battle with the teams locked at 6-6 at halftime.Smith broke the deadlock with a penalty goal in the 49th minute and then Storm centre Cheyse Blair made a crucial strip on Cowboys five-eighth Michael Morgan, with prop Jesse Bromwich burrowing over in the following set to make it 14-6.It looked like the home side would take control of the match but Morgan made amends soon after when he fired a ball to winger Kyle Feldt, who dived over in the corner.Johnathan Thurston failed to convert to leave the score at 14-10.That was extended by Smith with Feldt giving away a silly penalty as he tackled Blair.The Storm dominated early, throwing everything at their rivals.After 20 minutes, they had had 64 per cent of possession and 73 per cent of territory but couldnt crack the North Queensland defence until the 32nd minute.Winger Suliasi Vunivalu collected his 23rd try of the season when he pounced on a ball lost by Cowboys centre Kane Linnett.The flying Fijian turned on the jets to run 60 metres, burning off Thurston to touch down.However, the Cowboys then gained some momentum which paid off in the final minute of the half with a kick by Thurston ricocheting off a Storm player. It was scooped up by Lachlan Coote, who found Antonio Winterstein in the corner.Lining up on Friday night against the Broncos, who they beat in last years grand final, Cowboys coach Paul Green said his team were their own worst enemies during the second half.The Storm had 18 sets down on our tryline and we only had 10 for the game so, against a team like Melbourne, thats not going to win you the game, Green said.They were deserving winners.Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said his team had taken their game to a new level in the past two weeks but would enjoy the week off ahead of their grand-final qualifier.He pinpointed a period midway through the first half when the Storm held the Cowboys out after having to make four line dropouts.That was defining for me as we didnt buckle and that sent a message, he said.I thought they were tremendous tonight and I felt like we controlled the game really well and to go to another prelim is a pat on the back for our players, Bellamy said. 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Luis Castillo Jersey . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Test cricket in winter could become a reality in South Africa after the experiment to host New Zealand out-of-season in August was declared a success by players and administrators alike. The Durban debacle aside, SuperSport Park in Centurion produced a good pitch and pristine outfield, and drew sizable crowds on all four days.We want to play Test matches at home as much as possible so if that means we have to do it in the winter, we are all for it. Especially in Centurion, Faf du Plessis, South Africas stand-in captain, said. Everything about the field was really good. The weather was really good, the pitch played well and the outfield was beautiful.The possibility of dead pitches was one of the reasons why cricket in winter hadnt been mooted by Cricket South Africa previously. Dry winters everywhere except the Cape - where rain makes it difficult to play - leave surfaces barren. But at Centurion, a significant grass covering ensured assistance for seamers throughout.This was a great Test wicket - you had all the different combinations and all the factors come into play, du Plessis said. Day one, your seamers must play a big role, the wicket must move around and you must be tight as a batting unit. Day two and three must be good batting conditions and then day four and five must bring its different challenges. Maybe the only thing we didnt see in this match was spin on day four and five, and also, we didnt see reverse swing. It didnt happen because the outfield was beautiful, nice and lush, so those are the only things we didnt see.Kane Williamson, who regarded South Africas first innings total as being hugely influential in the outcome, was a little more measured in his praise of the pitch, which thought may have deteriorated a little too quickly. Batting became progressively difficult as uneven bounce became a factor from the second day.What both captains agreed on was that thee outfield was as pleasant to play on as it was to look at.dddddddddddd The playing area was re-laid with winter grass for this Test after both South Africa and New Zealand complained of the outfield being too hard, during an ODI series in July-August 2015.The de-seeding process, which involved planting different grass to the usual summer carpet, took place in April. It was far different to the work done at Kingsmead in Durban, where the outfield was decompacted in June, making it hard to recover in time for the first Test.That doesnt mean Durban is completely unsuitable for winter cricket. Had flash floods in July and unseasonal downpours on the second day of the first Test not taken place, more play may have been possible. Durbans warm days could be factored in while drawing the winter schedule. However, it is likely that concentration of out-of-season activity is likely to be on the Highveld where clear skies and mild sunshine are a guarantee.One venue that is particularly keen to continue hosting winter cricket is the SuperSport Park. Its like asking a kid if they want ice-cream, Jacques Faul, Titans CEO said. We would definitely do it again. We considered it a huge success.While the stadium did not see a sell-out crowd, the local association was happy with the numbers they got. Faul put down the response to proliferation of sporting activities at this time of year, which includes rugby. Attendance swelled to 9000 on days one and two - a Saturday and Sunday - and dropped to around 3500 on day three and 2000 on day four.Thats what we budgeted for, Faul said. We would have liked to start on Friday but that was impossible because of the regulations about the number of days teams needs between Tests. Ideally, we would like to have it Friday to Tuesday. ' ' '