South Australia seal final spot after NSW lose thriller
South Australia thumped Tasmania by 193 runs on Day 4 in Hobart on Sunday (March 19) to enter the final of Sheffield Shield 2017. They will meet Victoria in the final, set to be played at the Traeger Park in Alice Springs
Daniel Worrall and Joe Mennie combined to pick up eight wickets between them to skittle out Tasmania for a paltry total of 106.
Tasmania, who were set a challenging target of 299, collapsed in a heap to find themselves precariously-placed at 57 for 7. Chadd Sayers and Mennie picked up the first six wickets to fall. Worrall then took over from the pace duo to rip through the cream of the lower-order to help his side emerge victorious. Only Tim Paine (26), Hamish Kingston (13) and Sam Rainbird (33) registered double digit scores for Tasmania.
South Australia ended the league phase of the prestigious competition with 47.24 points. Victoria, who booked their place in the summit clash by defeating Western Australia last week, crushed Queensland by an innings and 11 runs in their last game of the league phase.
In terms of wins, this is Tasmania's worst ever season since 2004-05. The Island State won just one game during the course of the season and ended up with 19.64 points.
Brief Scores: South Australia 225 (Jake Weatherald 46; Sam Rainbird 4-50) & 406 (Callum Ferguson 90, Tom Cooper 83; Gabe Bell 4-97) beat Tasmania 332 (Ben McDermott 104, Beau Webster 50; Joe Mennie 5-67, Daniel Worrall 3-96) and 106 (Sam Rainbird 33; Joe Mennie 4-21, Daniel Worrall 4-33) by 193 runs
In a thrilling finish to the league phase of the Sheffield Shield 2017, Western Australia beat New South Wales by 6 runs at the WACA in Perth on Sunday (March 19). With the defeat, NSW lost the chance of qualifying for the final, paving the way for South Australia's date with Victoria in the summit clash.
Needing 403 runs to win, NSW began on a quick note with opener Daniel Hughes and Ed Cowan putting on a 161-run stand for the second wicket. However, with runs needed at a brisk pace, the tourists kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Kurtis Patterson (39), Moises Henriques (66) and Peter Nevill (63) made useful contributions, but didn't get adequate support from the lower order. The wicketkeeper-batsman was playing a lone hand and farming the strike well, before eventually becoming the last batsman to be dismissed.
Ashton Turner was the pick of the Western Australia bowlers, picking up six wickets in the second innings to bowl New South Wales out for 396.
South Australia will now face Victoria at the Alice Springs ground in the Sheffield Shield final.
Brief Scores: Western Australia 436/9 decl. (Cameron Bancroft 104, Ashton Turner 84; Trent Copeland 2-96) and 275/4 decl. (Hilton Cartwright 170*, Ashton Turner 44; Trent Copeland 3-72) beat New South Wales 309 (Ed Cowan 69, Daniel Hughes 69; Jason Behrendorff 4-70) and 396 (Daniel Hughes 110, Ed Cowan 80; Ashton Turner 6-111) by 6 runs
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