On the final day of their Sheffield Shield fixture, the Queensland Bulls secured their fourth straight win, seeing off a defiant middle order resistance from the NSW Blues in the second innings at the Gabba.
The Bulls looked certain to taste victory against NSW in the morning session. Needing 224 to win, with 7 wickets in hand, the Blues capitulated early as the Queensland quicks took advantage of the overcast conditions and a deteriorating wicket.
Resuming at 3/24 with Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith at the crease, the pair barely warmed up before they found themselves trotting back to the sheds.
Starc was first to go, caught by Peter Forrest at first slip off seam bowler Chris Swan taking his 100th wicket in first class cricket.
Two runs short of double digit figures, inconsistent all-rounder Steve Smith soon followed Starc. th Pivoting for an aggressive pull shot off a James Hopes bouncer, Smith’s poorly timed attempt snicked the top edge and was caught brilliantly by wicketkeeper Chris Hartley leaping to his left.
After a brief partnership from Ben Rohrer and Moises Henriques, Swan grabbed his second scalp of the second innings drawing Rohrer into a lazy, half-hearted swipe to get caught behind by Hartley on just 7 runs.
Staring down the barrel of a brisk defeat at 6/59, Henriques and Peter Nevill produced enough for a highlights reel with a swag of textbook cuts, cover and straight drives to give the visitors some hope of making a stand at the crease.
Then in an effort to get the scoreboard ticking over, Henriques swung at one too many, caught at point by Joe Burns off the bowling of first innings hero Ben Cutting, to make it 7/85.
However things started to look up for NSW when Nevill dug in for a 39-run partnership with Blues captain Stephen O’Keefe before lunch.
After the break, O’Keefe and Nevill picked up where they left off, bringing the run chase within range. They were helped along when Luke Feldman, who came on to bowl at the Vulture Street end, struggled to string together a decent over to put pressure on the Blues.
With O’Keefe, Nevill chipped away at the total for a 70-run partnership until leg spinner Cameron Boyce bamboozled Neville to knock the bails off.
At 8/155 O’Keefe unleashed on the Queensland bowlers, even hitting two sixes, as the win appeared within reach. Just before 1pm the New South Welshman made his half-century and by quarter past he’d reached 81 runs taking Josh Hazlewood on the ride with him.
Hazlewood finally fell after amassing 13 runs on the Gabba surface. Clean bowled by Cameron Boyce, Doug Bollinger then moseyed onto the crease carrying a hamstring injury. Though the stage was still set for NSW to steal the win from the Bulls.
The Blues needed just 15 runs to win with one wicket in hand, but O’Keefe didn’t change his method of attack. Continuing to slash at every ball, he spooned numerous shots up in the air, but unfortunately for the Bulls they fell in unmanned areas each time.
Then just after 1.30pm, off a short delivery from the in form, freshly selected Australia A player Ben Cutting, O’Keefe’s luck finally ran out on 82 runs. Caught trying to guide it over Harley’s head, the wicket left NSW all out for 209, 14 runs short of the win.
Cutting’s stellar spell in the close contest against the Blues saw the pace bowler rightfully earn man-of-the-match honours taking 7/88 in total, which included the removal of the dangerous NSW top order, a half century with the bat and clinching the match-deciding final wicket.
It’s the perfect start to the cricket season for the Bulls with their fourth consecutive Shield victory, and sees the Queenslanders safely located on the top of the Bupa Sheffield Shield ladder, well ahead of their nearest rival.
JohnB
Guest
2 counting Watson, which every right-thinking Qld-er does (while ignoring Harris' origins and pretending Johnson was always a Sandgroper)! While I certainly get where you're coming from re the absence of Qld-ers in the teams, realistically who else would you pick? Burns would have an "keep an eye on him" asterisk against his name, but needs to do more. Lynn may have been getting close last year but has possibly dropped back a little in the pecking order by not playing until this last round of games (and needs to make runs). Are any of the others really a chance of even the A team? Forrest perhaps but none of the others at this stage. Both Hartley and Hopes are very good cricketers - but Hartley's in a crowded position and time seems to have beaten Hopes. I think that must be a bitter pill for each of them, and each would do a job if picked, but not picking them doesn't seem totally unreasonable. Boyce has had a couple of good games this year - if he has a few more he would start to be a contender but I don't think he's there yet (and enough spinners have been pushed into teams very quickly to justify holding off a bit with him). There's a bunch of young pace bowlers there but to me none of them have really stood out (Feldman started to last year, but again he's been injured and has slipped back). Cutting's performed, and has been picked.
formeropenside
Guest
And yet Queensland, undefeated with 8 from 8, contributes exactly one player to the Test team and to another to Australia A.
JohnB
Guest
The all-rounder Smith only bowled one over in the game, while O'Keeffe bowled 47. That might say that Smith's bowling needs lots of work - or that it makes it tough when the other spinner is also the skipper! Or possibly somewhere in between. On the other side, just looking at the raw figures, Cameron Boyce went at least as well as O'Keeffe, chipping in with a 2 for and a 3 for, both inexpensive. And for all that everyone seems to criticise Haddin now (forgetting he was one of the few to hold his head up in the last Ashes) what a wealth of alternative keepers - Paine, Wade, Neville - and Hartley wouldn't let anyone down.