Source : ABC NEWS
South Australia has won back-to-back Sheffield Shield titles with a brilliant comeback victory over Victoria in the final at Melbourne’s Junction Oval.
The game hung in the balance at the start of day five — South Australia needing five wickets and Victoria 94 runs away from the win — but the Redbacks blew them away inside an hour.
It started in the second over of the day, when Liam Scott nicked off Todd Murphy, and fellow night watchman Mitchell Perry was trapped LBW by player of the match Nathan McAndrew in the next over.
Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey took a brilliant catch, diving low to his left to remove Ollie Peake, who was Victoria’s final frontline batter.
Former Victorian Henry Thornton took the final two wickets of Will Sutherland and Fergus O’Neill to wrap up a 56-run win.
It was a remarkable turnaround for the South Australians, who only snuck into the final when Tasmania beat Queensland in the final game of the regular season.
They were then sent in to bat on a tricky wicket and struggled to a first-innings 198.
Left with a deficit of 63 heading into the second dig, South Australia felt the trophy slipping away as Victoria tore through the batting line-up to leave the reigning champions 7-122, uniting Carey and McAndrew.
“Didn’t think we’d be standing here today when Macca and Kez were batting yesterday. We were very nervous,” South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney said.
Alex Carey’s century saved South Australia. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)
Carey (103) and McAndrew (60) put on 105 for the eighth wicket and helped set Victoria a 196-run target that proved to be well out of reach.
“That’s the moment in the game that we won and definitely is the reason we’re standing up here today,” McSweeney said.
“To Kez, he’s been fantastic. Every time he wears a baggy green or the baggy red, he doesn’t miss. We’re so lucky o to have him.
“And Nathan McAndrew’s been fantastic for us.”
In addition to his vital lower-order runs, McAndrew took 3-71 and 3-50 to be named the player of the final, but it was a true team effort.
When Victoria looked rock solid at 3-102 late on day four, Thornton and player of the season Scott removed set batters Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris in successive overs to force Victoria to send out two night watchman.
It set up a final day when the hosts never got set and ultimately watched a chance to win the Shield for the first time since 2019 slip away in a hurry.
