Victoria weren’t able to celebrate their historic third successive Sheffield Shield triumph with a win in the final after South Australia hung on for a gritty draw in Alice Springs, but there was no denying the Bushrangers were deserving of their success.
A defiant unbeaten 137 from South Australia captain Travis Head saw the Redbacks weather the final day charge from Victoria to reach 6-236 when stumps were called.
Victoria were bowled out on the final morning for 323, leaving South Australia an almost-impossible target of 524 from 69 overs.
The Bushrangers elected to bat into day five despite the history books suggesting it was taking caution a step too far – the previous highest successful fourth-innings run chase in a Shield final was Victoria’s 2-239 against NSW 26 years ago.
Victoria comfortably finished top of the standings and therefore only needed a draw at Traeger Park to retain their title.
They continued that form in the final dominating from the opening session, though they did enjoy some good fortune along the way.
With Victoria winning a crucial toss, South Australia were forced to bowl in extreme heat over the opening two days before milder conditions prevailed.
It is the first time in the Bushrangers’ 125-year Sheffield Shield history they have three on the trot. The feat was last achieved by Queensland in 2002.
Victoria made the perfect start to the final with a 224-run opening partnership between Marcus Harris (124) and Travis Dean (94).
But the individual performance of the match was undoubtedly Jon Holland’s 7-82 which left South Australia 200 runs in arrears on the first innings.
“We had a goal at the start of the year to achieve three in a row, something Victoria has never done, so to achieve this is fantastic,” said Holland, who was named player of the match.
Cameron White, who along with Rob Quiney has won five Shields, said he would likely relinquish the Victorian captaincy with Peter Handscomb the likely candidate to assume the role.
Victoria achieved their triumph without four players on Test duty in India – Handscomb, Mathew Wade, Marcus Stoinis and Glen Maxwell – with John Hastings unavailable due to injury.
It was a second loss in a row in the season decider against Victoria for SA, whose winless run in the competition extended to 21 years.
“Victoria have been the standout all season with seven wins, and they played the conditions really well, so it was always going to be a tough week,” said SA captain Head.
“That wicket was tough. With the quality of spinners they have, they weren’t able to get 10 wickets, so it would have been difficult to get a result on that wicket, even if we took our opportunities on day one.”
There was some joy for South Australia with wicketkeeper Alex Carey claiming a Shield record for most dismissals in a season (59), while seamer Chadd Sayers was the season’s top wicket-taker with 62 scalps.
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