Victoria disintegrated in the space of 53 minutes on the final morning of the Sheffield Shield final to hand South Australia back-to-back titles for the first time in the state’s history.
Resuming at 5-102 chasing 196 for their first Shield since 2019, the hosts lost 5-27 to surrender the final to a jubilant SA team, who had trailed Victoria in the Shield standings for the whole season.
Victoria’s last hope went with the wicket of teenager Ollie Peake, who was caught behind by Alex Carey off the bowling of all-rounder Liam Scott, from a delivery that may have been a no ball – replays of the crease line were obscured by the non-striking batsman.
SA’s victory was largely down to a combination of Carey’s sublime second innings century and the relentless seam bowling combination of player of the match Nathan McAndrew (3-50), Jordan Buckingham (1-27), Liam Scott (3-32) and Henry Thornton (3-12). Test bowler Brendan Doggett was ruled out of the final with a hamstring strain, while Wes Agar also missed out.
After the last regular season game between the same two sides was played on a far friendlier pitch for batting, a much grassier surface made for an undulating contest but did no favours for Victoria’s top order batting. The injury substitution of Sam Elliott for Mitch Perry also mattered little.
Morning shadows were still shortening in the last week of daylight savings when Scott found Todd Murphy’s outside edge from around the wicket – as Stuart Broad had done to cap the 2023 Ashes series at the Oval.
McAndrew followed up by winning a marginal lbw verdict against Mitch Perry, the angled ball flicking leg stump in the view of umpire Shaun Craig.
Held back behind those two nightwatchmen, Peake was beaten once outside off stump by Scott, before punching McAndrew’s half volley down the ground with a puritanically straight bat.
Scott held his line, however, and found Peake’s outside edge with another away seamer that was expertly pouched by Carey. The umpires checked for a no ball, but gave Scott the benefit of the doubt as his boot was obscured by non-striker O’Neill.
Top scorer for Victoria in the match with his first innings 64, O’Neill was joined by captain Sutherland with 76 required, and SA countered by introducing the extra pace of Thornton.
Sutherland was immediately hurried, and when Thornton offered a tempting length ball on a wider line, the Victorian skipper drove on the up in Bazball fashion and was safely pouched in the slips.
Scott Boland wandered to the middle as Victoria’s last man, and he stood helpless at the bowler’s end as Thornton smashed O’Neill’s stumps to hand victory to SA.
A lone visiting spectator ran onto the ground with the state flag, only to be told that the umpires were checking the no ball. It was a brief interruption before the SA celebrations began.
Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
