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South Australia ‘Steal’ the Sheffield Shield-by Alex Malcolm
Source:Thuppahis
South Australia 198 and and 258 (Carey 103, McAndrew 60, Boland 3-78) beat Victoria 261 and 139 (Thornton 3-12, Scott 3-32, McAndrew 3-50) by 56 runs
Nathan McAndrew, Liam Scott and Henry Thornton scythed through Victoria to help South Australia pull off a stunning come from behind victory to claim back-to-back Sheffield Shield titles for the first time in the state’s history.
The trio ripped through Victoria’s lower order, taking 5 for 37 on the final day. Victoria lost 7 for 37 in all after cruising to 102 for 3 just prior to stumps on the fourth day in pursuit of a fourth innings target of 196. SA’s win was the first by an away team in a Shield final in a decade, with Victoria the last to do it against SA in Adelaide in 2015-16.
It was a stunning turnaround from SA. They did not register any batting bonus points in the first innings, conceded a first innings lead of 63, and slumped to 122 for 7 in their second innings with a lead of just 59. But a magnificent stand from Alex Carey and McAndrew gave them a score to defend, and then McAndrew, Scott and Thornton did the job with the ball late on day four and early on day five. McAndrew was a deserving player of the match for an exceptional all-round performance.
Victoria made the perfect start to the final morning when the two nightwatchers Mitchell Perry and Todd Murphy took 10 from McAndrew first over, with Perry’s classic on drive to the rope sending concerns through the SA camp.
But Scott struck with just his fourth ball from the City End. Angling in from around the wicket, he delivered a perfect length to Murphy who was forced to play. it nipped away to scratch the edge and Carey took a simple catch.
That left Victoria 112 for 6, still needing 84 to win. They slumped to 112 for 7 in McAndrew’s second over. Again from around the wicket, he pinned a left-hander lbw as he had done to Campbell Kellaway the previous day. Perry was caught on the crease and hit below the knee roll in line with off stump. Umpire Shawn Craig deemed it wasn’t missing leg on the angle.
Ollie Peake unfurled a glorious straight drive off McAndrew to get off the mark. But that would be his only scoring shot in 14 deliveries. Scott changed to over the wicket, an angle Peake has struggled with from right-arm seamers, and delivered another perfect length angled across. Peake shuffled down to cover the length but it nipped across and took the edge. Carey took an outstanding catch diving low to his left at full stretch in front of first slip.
That left the home side 120 for 8 with Will Sutherland entering at No. 10. O’Neill and Sutherland saw off McAndrew inching 12 runs closer to the target in the process. However the change of bowling proved a masterstroke. Henry Thornton’s extra pace caused a mistake from Sutherland as he tried to drive on the up to a ball that nibbled away off the seam. The thick edge was pouched neatly by Jason Sangha at first slip.
Thornton then sealed the win with an offcutter than snaked through O’Neill’s defence and crashed into off stump to spark wild celebrations from the visitors.
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
