Melbourne [Australia], November 12 : Peter Handscomb's match-winning ton in Victoria's 300-run win over Steve Smith led New South Wales (NSW), and South Australia's three-wicket win over Jordan Silk led Tasmania, were the highlights as the Sheffield Shield's latest round saw two of its match end on Wednesday, with Cameron Green keeping Western Australia afloat against Queensland.
The horror show by Smith-led New South Wales was the major highlight, as despite the presence of Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood, NSW registered a poor outing, which slid them to third place in the table.
-Victoria had a fine start after electing to bat first, with Handscomb (104 in 210 balls, with 11 fours), Campbell Kellaway (51 in 104 balls, with seven fours), and Sam Harper (54 in 40 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) pushing them to 382, with Mitchell Starc (4/91) and Nathan Lyon (4/82) registering best bowling spells.
Hazlewood went wicketless. In their first attempt, NSW could manage just 128 on the board, with Smith's class apart 57 in 89 balls (with 10 fours) being the only score above 20 as Sam Elliott pocketed five wickets and Scott Boland also picked two, including opener Sam Konstas for the sixth time. In Victoria's second innings, Marcus Harris (58 in 143 balls, with eight fours) stood out as they managed 171/9 declared, extending their lead to 426 runs.
Sean Abott took a four-fer, while Lyon got two. Hazlewood and Starc got one each. Smith registered another half-century, but Elliott (3/24), Fergus O'Neill (2/22) and Will Sutherland (2/37) contained the star-powered NSW to 125 runs, winning by 300 runs. Handscomb won the 'Player of the Match' award.
-Pace all-rounder Liam Scott's all-round show was the highlight in South Australia's three-wicket win over Tasmania. SA opted to field first, skipper Jordan Silk's 64 in 105 balls, with nine fours and a six was the shining light within Tasmania's first innings total of 209 runs, with Brendan Doggett, member of the first Ashes Test squad, getting a fiver and Scott getting three scalps. In reply, Alex Carey (59 in 63 balls, with six fours and a six) dragged South Australia to 177, as skipper Nathan McSweeney (2) and Travis Head (9) flopped.
All-rounder Beau Webster, another member of the Perth Test squad, picked a fifer as Tasmania led by 32 runs. Tasmania was skittled out for 184 in the second innings, despite a 69-run opening stand between Caleb Jewell (41) and Jake Weatherald (30). Scott took two wickets while Henry Thornton and Ben Manenti got three. South Australia got to chase 217 runs, with Scott (53 in 79 balls, with five fours and a six) and Ben Manenti (49* in 54 balls, with four boundaries and a six) playing a crucial role in the chase, even though Webster and Gabe Bell took three wickets.
In the contest between Queensland and Western Australia, WA elected to field first. Queensland posted 390 in their first innings, with Matt Renshaw, another Ashes hopeful (101 in 198 balls, with eight fours and two sixes), Marnus Labuschagne (50 in 87 balls, with six fours and a six), Lachlan Hearne (87 in 134 balls, with 12 fours) and Xavier Bartlett (50 in 44 balls, with 11 fours) guding them to a massive score.
Cameron Green impressed on his bowling return, taking one wicket for 13 runs in his eight-over spell, consisting of three maidens and bowling consistently at 135-140 clicks. In their first crack at the deficit, WA is kept afloat by Cameron Bancroft (76 in 173 balls, with seven fours) and Green (49* in 76 balls, with five fours and a six). WA ended the second day at 210/5, trailing by 180 runs.
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