The silverware and a slice of history are headed back to South Australia.
South Australia claimed a second successive Sheffield Shield title for the first time in its history after narrowly escaping defeat.
SA took five quick wickets on day five to edge out Victoria by 56 runs at Junction Oval on Monday morning.
The batting efforts of Alex Carey (103) and Nathan McAndrew (60) shifted the game on day four before the South Australian quicks finished the job.
Victoria held a 63-run first-innings lead and effectively had South Australia at 5-16 early in the second innings before Carey’s class stood tall.
Starting the final morning at 5-102 and needing 94 runs to win, the Vics’ only win was taking 10 runs off the first over before it was all South Australia.
Liam Scott caught the edge of Todd Murphy before McAndrew cleaned up his opening over with Mitch Perry’s wicket.
Fergus O’Neill and Ollie Peake put on an unbroken 84-run stand in round one to beat South Australia – and Victoria needed that exact tally again when they met in the middle.
But Peake was unable to replicate his Adelaide Oval heroics, undone by the combination of Scott and a diving Carey.
Scott’s front foot was extremely close to the line, but O’Neill’s bat blocked the only clear line of sight on the replay.
Victoria’s call for a captain’s innings was not answered, as Will Sutherland navigated just 11 balls before his ambitious drive was caught in the slip cordon.
The Vics were in complete control of the match with half an hour left in play on day four, but the wickets of Marcus Harris (35) and Peter Handscomb (28) altered the trajectory of the chase.
South Australia kickstarted a collapse of 7-37, which was exacerbated by the loss of 5-27 during the first hour on day five.
McAndrew, for his six wickets and important second-innings runs, was crowned the player of the match.
South Australian captain Nathan McSweeney lauded the partnership of Carey and McAndrew, saying it shifted the side’s belief.
“(I was) very nervous, thinking the game had maybe slipped through our hands,” McSweeney said.
“Kez and Macca, to be able to spend so much time in the middle and chip away at a total, we were saying 130, 140 is enough, to get I think 195 ahead just gave us so much momentum.
“Our quicks have been great all year, probably the last three or four years, so to give them the ball and go to work was fantastic to see.”