Late strikes cost Victoria as Sheffield Shield final goes down to the wire

South Australia struck twice late on day four to snatch the momentum from Victoria in a Sheffield Shield final that is too close to call.

Set 196 to win their first Shield title since 2018-19, the home side was 5-102 at stumps on Sunday at Junction Oval. Nightwatchmen Todd Murphy and Mitch Perry were yet to score.

Victoria had recovered from a shaky start and were 3-102 less than 20 minutes from stumps when they lost crucial wickets in successive overs.

First Henry Thornton had Peter Handscomb caught behind for 28, ending the 67-run stand that looked as though it could decide the final.

Then Marcus Harris was caught by Ben Manenti at second slip off Liam Scott for 35, leaving Victoria in strife again at five wickets possible.

A quick kill looked possible for Victoria when Scott Boland was bowling for a hat-trick and SA had slumped to 7-122 – only 59 ahead – after resuming at 5-94.

But Alex Carey and Nathan McAndrew fought back to ensure this tight final would go into day five.

They put on 105 for the eighth wicket before McAndrew was dismissed for 60, while Carey was the last out for 103 and SA reached 258 at tea.

Carey also made a ton in last season’s victorious Shield final. He hit six fours and a six in his commanding 168-ball knock.

McAndrew continued his heroics at the start of Victoria’s run chase, claiming wickets in successive overs.

That had the home side in early strife at 3-35, before Handscomb and Harris combined and looked like they were putting Victoria in control.

South Australia must win to successfully defend their title.

Sunday featured a healthy crowd of more than 2000, with the sunny conditions in stark contrast to the rain that had interrupted play through the first three days of the final.

Day three: Victorians close in on title after substitute drama

The controversial injury substitute rule has helped Victoria take control of the Sheffield Shield final on a day of drama at Junction Oval.

South Australia coach and Australian great Ryan Harris called it “a shit rule”, but added they considered also making use of it.

After being in trouble midway through day three on Saturday, Victoria snared five wickets after tea to leave the reigning champions on the ropes.

SA are 5-94 in their second innings, an overall lead of only 31 with two days left. They must win the final to go back-to-back for the first time.

After Victoria were dismissed at tea for 261 in their first innings, paceman Sam Elliott was warming up during the break when he was hobbled by a hamstring injury.

That sparked several minutes of confusion – Victoria activated Mitch Perry as the injury substitute and he hurried to the nets to warm up, only to be told he could not do so under the provisions of the rule.

Then Victorian assistant coach Ben Rohrer was denied permission by the umpires to field until Perry was ready to come onto the ground, meaning they had to scramble for a suitable player.

When Perry finally was brought on to bowl, he snared SA captain Nathan McSweeney with his first delivery to leave them in disarray at 3-35.

“It’s always frustrating when it’s against you. So it’s a shit rule unless you make the most of it,” Harris said.

“In saying that, we could do the same – we’re allowed to do the same until the end of play.

“I’m an old-fashioned Test cricketer. You get injured and you’re a bowler down.

“But in saying that, what happened today is the rule. Whether it’s right, I don’t know, it’s not for me to say.”

Harris also noted the rule has been in place for this Shield season, and they considered bringing in Wes Agar as their own tactical sub, which was open to them after Perry was activated.

Adding to the drama, Perry originally was axed from Victoria’s Shield final team to make way for Elliott.

“I was pretty cooked after about two and a half overs,” Perry said.

“It was a bit of a shock to the system.”

SA now need a miracle, with Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey 24 not out at stumps and Shield player of the season Liam Scott on two.

“We just have to make sure tomorrow we try to make the most of it and get as many as we can … and defend it like it’s literally the end of our lives, I guess,” Harris said.

“We just fight our butts off.”

Victorian captain Will Sutherland capped an excellent day by having Jason Sangha caught behind for 34.

Fergus O’Neill and Sutherland had led Victoria’s recovery after lunch, wresting the momentum from SA and setting up a first-innings lead of 63.

O’Neill top-scored with an unbeaten 64 from 134 balls, featuring seven fours – his fourth first-class 50.

After play was delayed by more than an hour on Saturday morning at Junction Oval because of more rain, Victoria reached lunch on 5-150.

Marcus Harris did not add to his score before he feathered an edge off Scott and was caught behind for 40.

That left Victoria on the brink at 6-157 in reply to SA’s 198.

But O’Neill and Sutherland batted Victoria out of trouble with a 55-run stand.

Sutherland, who took four wickets in SA’s first innings, scored 34 from 57 balls. The Victorian skipper gave them the lead with a pull shot for six off Jordan Buckingham.
– Roger Vaughan, AAP

Can Australia’s next opener please stand up? Bowlers dominate Shield final

Andrew Wu

There were two national selectors at the Sheffield Shield final on Friday. The intel they gathered will not have them any closer to a solution to Australia’s top-order batting issues.

Victoria, 4-110 in reply to South Australia’s 198, hold the marginal advantage after two days of the decider at the Junction Oval, but the biggest winner so far is a man who is not even playing this game, the incumbent Test opener Jake Weatherald.

In the three months since Weatherald left his Test berth up for question, no candidate has crashed the door down with a mountain of runs late in the Shield season.

In difficult batting conditions, former Test opener Nathan McSweeney and future star Campbell Kellaway did not exactly hurt their chances but they both missed opportunities to significantly strengthen their cases.

With selector Tony Dodemaide watching from the stands, and national coach Andrew McDonald keeping an eye from Cricket Victoria’s function room, McSweeney grafted for three hours – across two days – to make a hitherto game-high 52.

McSweeney, who endured a tough run against Jasprit Bumrah last season against India, has had a trying Shield campaign but showed his class in difficult conditions. At a time when batters opt to chance their arm on pitches heavily tilted in the bowler’s favour, McSweeney trusted his defence against a quality Victoria attack led by Scott Boland.

It took a trademark Boland delivery to remove McSweeney, who – caught in two minds by a delivery in the channel outside off stump – nicked off to a diving catch to Sam Harper.

Kellaway survived 24 overs of high-quality seam bowling in dull light only to close the bat on a ball from Henry Thornton that reared sharply to be caught by McSweeney running to short cover.

Scoring has proven so challenging on a well-grassed pitch offering sharp bounce and significant movement off the seam that even Alex Carey struggled. The Test gloveman made 26 off 88 balls before playing on to Sam Elliott, whose breakthrough went a long way to vindicating his line-ball selection over the unlucky Mitch Perry.

A key moment arrived when Vics skipper Will Sutherland bowled Liam Scott for 37, restricting South Australia to 198 and denying them any batting bonus points. It means if Victoria pass 200, they need only to draw the game to win the Shield.

A draw, though, seems unlikely, even with rain forecast on Saturday.

Victoria have been unconvincing in their response. Sam Harper wiped 20 off the chase in a cameo knock against the new ball but lasted only 10 balls before getting himself into an awkward position and edging.

Only eight overs of spin have been bowled across the first two days of CA’s showpiece domestic game, which will do little to ease the concerns of those who believe the art of slow bowling is being underappreciated.

T-shirt controversy on day one of Shield final

Andrew Wu

Cricket Australia say a fan denied entry to the Sheffield Shield final on Thursday because he was wearing a T-shirt supporting Imran Khan will now be allowed because the shirt is about a humanitarian issue.

Luke Brown was forced to cover up his “Free Imran Khan” shirt to gain entry to Junction Oval on Thursday as he was deemed to be making a political statement about the jailed Pakistani great.

But, when contacted by this masthead, Cricket Australia said while security staff had correctly followed instructions, after reviewing the situation, it did not view the treatment of Imran as a political issue, which means support for him does not contravene the governing body’s ticket and entry conditions.

“Given the widespread concern in the cricket community for Imran Khan’s welfare, we believe this is a humanitarian issue and will act accordingly,” a CA spokesperson said.

There is widespread concern over Imran’s health after reports of his deteriorating condition in Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison, where he is jailed on corruption charges.

A total of 14 former international captains from five Test nations, including Australian greats Steve Waugh and Allan Border and England’s Michael Atherton, signed a petition drafted by batting legend Greg Chappell calling for Imran to receive better prison treatment.

Other signatories include Australia’s Belinda Clark, former India captains Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar and West Indies icon Clive Lloyd.

A revered player around the world, Imran had arguably his finest on-field achievement in Melbourne 34 years ago when he captained Pakistan to their only World Cup victory.

Brown said he was “befuddled” at being ordered to cover the T-shirt, produced by cricket website Cricket Et Al. He was allowed entry after wearing another T-shirt on top.

“I was surprised,” Brown, a club cricketer for about 30 years, told this masthead. “I understand the argument they have to deal with other situations, so it just makes it easier for them if they apply a blanket rule. They were very nice.

“I can see why they made that call, but I think it’s the wrong one. The cricket world should be getting behind him.

“It’s up to them how they enforce their rules, but if they’re going to do this, then it puts a bigger onus on them to do more on other fronts to mobilise the cricket public to support Imran Khan.”

Brown later praised CA for clarifying their position.

“It’s easy for individual cricket fans like me to take the right stance on Imran’s treatment,” Brown said. “It’s harder for Cricket Australia, so I applaud them for doing so.”

Victoria held the early advantage on day one after claiming three early wickets on the first day to have South Australia on 3-55 at lunch.

Only 28 overs were bowled for the day, and none after the first break, due to persistent rain in the afternoon.

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