Queensland will face South Australia in the Sheffield Shield final. Queensland successfully advanced to the final due to a draw between the two teams in the final round of the season, coupled with other match results being favorable to Queensland.
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03-27, 2025On the afternoon of the fourth day of the match, when both sides realized that they could not realistically win the game, South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney and Queensland's acting captain Marnus Labuschagne shook hands and called it a draw. South Australia finished their second innings with 5-252 after declaring at 7-614 in the first innings, after Queensland were dismissed for just 370. South Australia failed to secure a home final with a victory.
The match result left Queensland glued to their TV screens on Tuesday night, hoping that neither Western Australia nor New South Wales could win their respective matches and surpass them into next week's final. Tasmania's 326-run victory over New South Wales and Victoria's 34-run victory over Western Australia paved the way for Queensland to secure second place on the points table, and they will return to Allan Border Field from next Wednesday to compete in the final.
South Australia was "prevented" from hosting the final at the Adelaide Oval because the Australian Football League deemed it unsafe to convert the venue from a football field to a cricket ground and back again in a short period. Labuschagne said: "All in all, I am very proud of the efforts of the players. After going five games without a win, and then achieving three wins and a draw in the past five games, to be able to get to where we are now is indeed a very outstanding achievement."
Resuming their second innings on day four at 2-66, South Australia added 186 runs for the loss of three wickets. Jason Sangha reached his fifth first-class century with a shot that sent Mitch Swepson over the long-on boundary for six. This was one of four sixes from the former Sydney Thunder captain, who had previously swept former Test spinner Swepson over long-on.
Sangha's feat occurred as high-profile teammates fell around him. After catching century-maker Conor McInerney in the first innings, part-time bowler Labuschagne (2-34) trapped former Test teammate Nathan McSweeney (27) lbw to eventually become the match's unlikely leading wicket-taker. Labuschagne's match figures were 4-107. Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey (56) continued his impressive batting form this summer, reaching his half-century before hitting another part-timer, Matt Renshaw, to Ben McDermott at cover. Carey scored 104 in the first innings, averaging 120.67 in his past four first-class innings.
In Hobart, Matt Kuhnemann inspired Tasmania to an overwhelming victory over New South Wales with a brilliant five-wicket performance. New South Wales started day four at 0-71 in Hobart, chasing 529 runs for an unlikely victory and a spot in next week's final against South Australia. But after about an hour of resumed play, fast bowler Gabe Bell (2-63) struck twice in the same over, breaking the promising opening partnership before sending back comeback kid Kurtis Patterson for a duck.
After that, New South Wales' innings never progressed, and the visitors were all out for just 202, 327 runs short of their target, just after 6:30 pm local time. Test spinner Kuhnemann (5-49) was the main destroyer after Bell's early efforts, dismissing his Sri Lanka touring teammate Sam Konstas (68) to begin his eighth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Konstas was caught by Bell on the deep mid-wicket boundary rope as he knelt to sweep, but he remained the innings' top scorer. Subsequently, all-rounder Sean Abbott (28) was the only other batter to offer resistance, as Kuhnemann wreaked havoc.
Kuhnemann demolished the New South Wales middle order, bowling Josh Philippe's leg bail for 5, before Ollie Davies (11) hit him to Tim Ward. New South Wales captain Jake Edwards endured a sore knee to come out at No. 10, but only added one run before chipping back to Kuhnemann, who completed his five-wicket performance.
Western Australia missed out on a chance to win their fourth consecutive Sheffield Shield title, losing to Victoria in their must-win final match of the regular season by 35 runs. Victoria (197 and 9-370 declared) set the hosts a victory target of 382 on day four at the WACA Ground, where a win would also book Western Australia's place in next week's final. Western Australia (186, 347) fought valiantly, with Hilton Cartwright (79) top-scoring and Joel Paris (45) leading a brave rearguard action from the tail.
But in what may be his last Sheffield Shield match, veteran fast bowler Peter Siddle denied Western Australia a come-from-behind victory when No. 10 Corey Rocchiccioli (20) holed out to the ropes in the third-to-last over of the game. Western Australia's target looked a long way off when Siddle (4-68) dismissed captain Sam Whiteman for a duck with the second ball of the second innings. But two-Test player Cartwright (79) led a middle-order fightback that had the hosts daring to dream at 4-233.
Victoria captain Will Sutherland (4-79) hit Cartwright's off-stump short of his 11th first-class century to trigger another collapse for the hosts. Cooper Connolly, who burst onto the scene in last year's tournament final, was the last recognized batter for Western Australia to secure another spot. Connolly (56) reached his half-century with a six that sent spinner Todd Murphy over long-on, having replaced Murphy in his Test debut against Sri Lanka last month. But when he chipped Siddle straight to Harry Dixon at cover, Western Australia entered the tailender stage, still needing 99 runs.
Campbell Kellaway leapt in at deep mid-wicket to take a spectacular one-handed catch to dismiss Cameron Gannon for 19 off the bowling of Will Sutherland, before Paris resumed the charge. But when he edged Sutherland's delivery to wicketkeeper Blake McDonald, Western Australia stumbled towards the finish line, with the hosts falling short by a painful margin. To make matters worse, Western Australia's loss meant they would fall to the bottom of the points table, ending their season, surpassed by Victoria.
