Twin bowling efforts across two states turned the shape of the Sheffield Shield season on its head on Tuesday as the decision to prepare wickets for results in both Tasmania and Victoria backfired on the hosts.
Going into the game needing only a draw against South Australia to host the final, Tasmania, having secured a crucial bowling bonus point on the opening day, capitulated with the bat in an effort which could yet prove critical.
The home side were dismissed for just 123, with Redbacks seamer Nathan McAndrew snaring 6-43, on a day when 18 wickets fell at Bellerive Oval as Western Australia also rolled through the Victorian batting line-up in Melbourne to increase their chances of not just playing in a third-straight final, but also hosting it.
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With all available bonus points added to their respective tallies, Tassie held a 5.43 point lead over WA. There are six points on offer for victories, and a single point for a draw, which looms as an unlikely result in either game.
In Victoria, where only a win would help the home side jump over WA and into the final, the Junction Oval wicket offered plenty to the seamers and after Test star Scott Boland took four wickets on day one, the visitors took advantage on day two.
In two different collapses the Vics lost 3-1 and 5-11 to be all out for just 144, giving WA their bowling bonus point and a 100-run lead.
It looked like they needed every bit of it too after Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, Fergus O’Neill, got in on the wicket-taking with three early scalps to reduce WA to 4-31, giving the Vics a possible sniff of the win they needed.
But then red-hot Josh Inglis (45) took the attack back to the bowlers and with stoic opener Cameron Bancroft, who faced 151 balls for just 42 runs, put on 75 to steer their side out of the danger zone and to 6-119 at stumps, 219 runs in front.
Back in Hobart, the fired-up Tigers put their batting collapse behind them to reduced SA to 6-80, trying to limit the fourth-innings run chase, before Ben Manenti and Harry Neilsen put on a 57-run stand.
The Redbacks were eventually all out for 175, setting Tasmania 324 to win, with two days to go, but on a wicket where only three players, Nielsen and Nathan McSweeney for SA and Tassie’s Jake Doran, have passed 40. They were 1-8 at stumps, Matthew Wade gone for a duck.
The list of run-scorers didn’t include young gun Jake Fraser-McGurk who continued his battle since his ODI debut for Australia.
He was out for two in his final Shield innings for the season and since bashing 41 runs off 18 balls against the West Indies in Canberra last month, the 21-year-old had made just 36 runs in six Shield innings for the Redbacks, highlighting that despite his talent, he remains a work in progress.
In Brisbane, NSW also achieved a bowling bonus point after dismissing Queensland for 144. But it was made redundant when both Tassie and WA pushed the gap beyond even a win would help the Blues make up.
After a significantly improved season however, NSW was in a solid position, passing the Queensland total just five wickets down on day two after day one was all but washed out.
Source Agencies
