South Australia won by three runs

Queensland’s quicks had cause to fancy their chances under a grey Brisbane sky when their skipper Usman Khawaja sent South Australia into bat in this early-season Shield match at the Gabba.

But the South Australians weren’t easily caving. Led by Henry Hunt’s marathon 162 and former Bulls bat Nathan McSweeney’s 112no, they declared on day two at 5d-395 then promptly showcased their own capabilities with the ball, as Nathan McAndrew returned 6-41 to have the hosts all out 238.

Their batting second time around though lacked the same mettle and Gurinder Sandhu (4-31) and Mitch Swepson (3-26) combined to keep their side in the hunt – after SA were knocked over for 151 (their last two wickets adding a crucial 20 runs), the target for the home side was 273.

Which is where things got particularly interesting. At 2-11, it was left to Queensland veterans Usman Khawaja (114) and Joe Burns (91) to pick up the pieces.

Khawaja had missed the Bulls’ past two Shield matches due to a workload management directive from Cricket Australia but the 36-year-old barely missed a beat, dropping anchor for six hours as he steered his side towards the target.

Khawaja epic in vain as Bulls lose Shield thriller

For much of that time he was accompanied by the in-form Burns, and as the pair patiently accumulated their runs, they looked well set for victory at 2-179 in the final session.

It was then that the hosts imploded, losing their final eight wickets for 90 as McAndrew and his bowling cohort – with a little help from the part-time off-spin of McSweeney – orchestrated a remarkable comeback.

First McAndrew had Burns edging behind to end a fine 168-run stand. Then Jack Wildermuth (21) briefly halted the momentum and inched Queensland closer to their target but that man McAndrew struck for the ninth time in the match, and then the energetic Jordan Buckingham chimed in twice in four balls.

All the while, Khawaja stood watching on, at one point having faced just 23 balls amid an 18-over stretch. Yet with Mitch Swepson his final partner, he took control, bringing his side to within a boundary of victory before Buckingham had the final say, cramping the left-hander for room and knocking him over to trigger delirious celebrations from the South Australians.

Buckingham castles Khawaja as Redbacks snatch classic

“Certainly the best game of cricket I’ve ever been involved in,” the right armer said. “That’s an outstanding win, we were almost dead and buried there, so that’s huge.”

It was just the fifth occasion in Shield history that a winning margin has been three runs or fewer and the first in 20 years.

First inns: SA 5d-359 (Hunt 162, McSweeney 112; Renshaw 1-8)

Second inns: Qld 238 (Peirson 61; McAndrew 6-41)

Third inns: SA 151 (Fraser-McGurk 33; Sandhu 4-31)

Fourth inns: Qld 269 (Khawaja 114, Burns 91; McAndrew 3-60, Buckingham 3-83)

 

NSW won by two wickets

After winning the toss and batting, South Australia captain Darren Lehmann must have been ruing a poor batting effort that saw his side bowled out for 154 in just 65.3 overs.

That was despite a series of dropped catches from the Blues, who benefited from having Test pair Stuart Clark (2-33) and Stuart MacGill (3-6) doing the business at the front- and back-end of the innings.

In reply, NSW were led by Aaron O’Brien’s 74, the visitors making 288 to take a 134-run lead into the second half of the match as SA’s new-ball pair Shaun Tait (4-97) and Jason Gillespie (3-46) shared seven of the 10 wickets.

By stumps on day two, South Australia had steadied after Clark’s early double strike, moving to 2-103, with Mark Cosgrove and Cameron Borgas both well set.

The pair added another 75 the next morning but after Doug Bollinger broke through, the innings fell apart, and it was that man Clark again doing the damage, the right-armer finishing with 6-39 as South Australia lost 8-89 to be bowled out for 267.

If the Blues thought their run chase of 134 was going to be straightforward, Tait and Gillespie quickly told them otherwise: in a stunning opening two overs, the visitors lost four of their top five – all for ducks.

The scorecard at that point was a barely believable 4-1, and it was 5-12 soon after, as Beau Casson joined the procession.

Dom Thornely and O’Brien then added 34 before the latter became a fired-up Tait’s fourth victim, and at 6-46, victory looked a world away for New South Wales.

Enter Clark, who began the match with a first-class batting average of 13.45 and a highest score of 35. In just 43 minutes and 37 balls, the free-swinging No.8 hit four sixes and three fours in a blazing cameo of 63.

The right-hander dominated a 78-run stand with Thornely, played out across just 9.2 overs, but when he was out to leg-spinner Cullen Bailey with 10 runs still required, who then dismissed Matthew Nicholson five runs later, the tension once again mounted.

Facing Tait, and with only Bollinger and MacGill left for company, the composed Thornely then dispatched a short ball over the fine leg fielder for six, sealing a dramatic win.

First inns: SA 154 (Deitz 62; MacGill 3-6)

Second inns: NSW 288 (O’Brien 74; Tait 4-97)

Third inns: SA 267 (Cosgrove 94, Borgas 74; Clark 6-39)

Fourth inns: NSW 8-135 (Clark 62, Thornely 47no; Tait 4-46)

 

South Australia won by one wicket

There have only been 10 one-wicket wins in the Shield this century, and two of those were played out in remarkably similar fashion by South Australia and Western Australia in the 2015-16 summer.

We’ve gone for the second of those matches here, which began with a WA collapse. After being sent in at the WACA Ground, the home side were 6-109 after lunch on day one, as Dan Worrall and Joe Mennie ran amok with the Dukes ball.

But a maiden first-class hundred for Hilton Cartwright helped the West Australians to 311, which in the end was a strong total on a lively pitch. SA seamer Nic Benton’s dislocated shoulder was salt in the wound for the visitors, who let their advantage slip, and it was worse still when key pair Jake Weatherald and Travis Head both made first-ball ducks as the visitors scrambled to be all out 230 in 56.5 overs.

In a match that was moving quickly, WA’s lead pushed past 100 by the end of day two but again the momentum flipped the next morning, as Shaun Marsh’s wicket with the score at 2-52 triggered a spectacular collapse of 6-36.

At 8-88, the advantage for the home side was just 169, but the cool head of Adam Voges (89) was in the middle and that proved crucial. He teamed up with debutant paceman Josh Nicholas (41) and then Michael Hogan (3no), adding 104 for the last two wickets to set the South Australians 274 to win.

WA left-armer Joel Paris then went to work, leaving the visitors 5-135 at stumps on day three – halfway to their target, with half their batters back in the shed.

Benton shoulders pain to see Redbacks home

Crucially though, young skipper Head was still there, bringing up his 50 in 59 balls before going to the close on 61.  The next morning, he continued to flay away, and with No.8 Mennie in a similarly aggressive mood, the pair did some serious damage in a hurry – in an eight-over partnership, they added 76 to take the score to 6-250.

At that point, Head has blasted 73 from 58 balls on day three but he was then dismissed by Cartwright for a stirring 134 (141) – the type of knock that would fast become his trademark.

Yet the match was not yet won. South Australia lost 3-17 in the next 30 balls to leave them nine down with seven still required.

Benton, who had been unable to bat in the first innings (or bowl in the second) owing to his shoulder injury, then bravely emerged from the changerooms to partner Mennie (49no from 40), facing two balls from Paris before edging the winning runs through the slips cordon.

“We didn’t really want ‘Benno’ (Benton) to go out there, he’s in a bit of pain, but that shows his character,” Head said. “He was always going to bat.”

The thrilling win ended WA’s season but put SA on track for the final, in which they were beaten by Victoria.

First inns: WA 311 (Cartwright 139; Worrall 5-91, Mennie 4-58)

Second inns: SA 230 (Raphael 80; Hogan 4-49)

Third inns: WA 192 (Voges 89; Mennie 3-47, Worral 3-48)

Fourth inns: Tas 9-275 (Head 134, Mennie 49no; Paris 5-87)

 

South Australia won by 43 runs

No team in Shield history has won after making a lower total than South Australia’s 55 in this roller-coaster clash with Tasmania in Hobart at the front end of the 2010-11 season. 

Tassie opted to bat first on their home track but only Alex Doolan could go beyond a solid start, top-scoring with 68 out of 251 as Peter George (4-65) and Dan Christian (3-52) shared the spoils.

But two quick wickets before stumps for the visitors was a sign of things to come, and the following morning the South Australians went from a precarious 2-10 to a preposterous 55 all out inside 33 overs.

In just his eighth first-class match, Tasmania’s 20-year-old allrounder James Faulkner took 5-5 from seven overs as SA lurched to the third-lowest total in their history.

With a lead of 196, Tassie skipper George Bailey sent South Australia straight back in, and though rain and bad light ended play on day two at tea, the home side collected another three wickets at the cost of just 91 runs – which meant SA needed another 105 runs simply to make their opposition bat again.

Everything changed on day three. A century to Aiden Blizzard (115) and 77 to Graham Manou put South Australia in front, with the pair adding 152 for the fifth wicket at better than four an over.

After Manou and then Blizzard exited midway through day three, the lead was 101. But still there was better to come from South Australia, as allrounder Christian unleashed a furious assault, crashing 11 fours and five sixes in a 69-ball 93.

The innings lasted little more than 90 minutes, with Aaron O’Brien chipping in 20 as the support act in a 111-run stand that took the lead beyond 200.

The damage was limited somewhat as the final four wickets fell for just eight runs, but suddenly what had loomed as a comfortable win appeared anything but, with the target of 221 a challenging one.

And it was made all the more difficult when four of Tasmania’s top five were back in the pavilion with scores of two or fewer inside six overs, and the scorecard reading 4-15.

At that point, Bailey was joined by the youngster Faulkner, and the pair put together a reassuring 100-run stand in just 84 minutes. By then they were more than halfway to their total, and when Faulkner was dismissed for 44, Luke Butterworth picked up the slack and the home side went to stumps on day three at 5-144, needing another 77 to win.

The final day was frantic from the outset, as Bailey (77) was trapped lbw by Rob Cassell from the very first ball. Five overs later, an on-song George had Butterworth lbw, and South Australia were sensing one of the great come-from-behind wins.

And so it unfolded over the next half hour, George taking the final three wickets to complete his five-for (match figures 9-93) and earn his side an incredible 44-run victory.

“We knew if we had a good second-innings total – anything 180-plus – we could put the pressure on them,” SA skipper Michael Klinger said. “As soon as it happened, I said, ‘We’re a chance to win this game now’, and the boys responded really well.”

First inns: Tas 251 (Doolan 68; George 4-65)

Second inns: SA 55 (Smith 17; Faulkner 5-5)

Third inns: SA 416 (Blizzard 115, Christian 93; Faulkner 3-92)

Fourth inns: Tas 177 (Bailey 77; George 5-28, Cassell 4-58)

 

Queensland won by four wickets

A low-scoring battle between Tasmania and Queensland at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena morphed into the fifth-highest run chase in Shield history in this epic encounter back in 2018.

Squaring off for the first time since the previous summer’s Shield final, the Tigers and Bulls went blow for blow on an opening day that saw 18 wickets fall (all of them to pace) for 253 runs.

Tasmania’s first-up 167 looked a decent total at that point, with Queensland 8-86, and the next morning, after the visitors were finished off for 107, the Tigers made a far better fist of their second innings to seize the advantage.

When they were bowled out midway through day three for 353 off the back of George Bailey’s 109 and fifties to Jordan Silk and Simon Milenko, Tassie boasted a lead of 413 on a wicket that was improving as the match wore on.

Queensland capitalised on that fact as Test pair Joe Burns (74) and Marnus Labuschagne (78) added 126 for the second wicket to leave them 2-164 at stumps on day three, and daring to dream.

It set the scene for an intriguing final day: eight wickets needed for the home side; and 250 runs needed for the Bulls to complete a record chase.

Bulls snatch unlikely Shield win in Hobart

Midway through the final day, they wobbled via a mini-collapse of 3-25, and when Sam Heazlett (37) fell with 143 runs still needed, Tasmania – needing four wickets to close out the contest – were in the box seat.

Yet Jimmy Peirson (75no) and Michael Neser (76no) had other ideas. The pair rode their luck – Peirson was dropped twice, Neser once – to add the required runs across two-and-a-half hours on the final afternoon, completing one of the great turnarounds seen in Shield cricket.

“We had to dig deep to get it to day four, and then to get a win is the stuff of fairytales,” Peirson said. “We knew if we could bat long enough on day four, we’d have a chance.”

First inns: Tas 167 (Wade 63; Steketee 3-35, Neser 3-43)

Second inns: Qld 107 (Neser 27; Pyecroft 5-28)

Third inns: Tas 353 (Bailey 109, Milenko 53; Swepson 4-99)

Fourth inns: Qld 6-414 (Labuschagne 78, Neser 76no, Peirson 75no; Meredith 3-70)