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A clinical Western Australia have defended their Sheffield Shield crown, defeating Victoria by nine wickets on the back of Ashton Turner’s pivotal century.
Set 91 to win on day four of the final at the WACA Ground, the hosts reached their target in 24.4 overs after losing Sam Whiteman for a third-ball duck.
Teague Wyllie (43no) and Cameron Bancroft (39no) shepherded WA to an unprecedented ‘six-peat’ of consecutive Shield, one-day cup and Big Bash League titles with a day-and-a-half’s play remaining.
The pair wasted little time pursuing their target after lunch, Wyllie having survived being dropped on four by Peter Handscomb at second slip off the bowling of Scott Boland.
But it was Turner who earlier provided the defining performance of the match, scoring a magnificent 128 to guide WA to a first-innings total of 315.
Playing in just his second game back in the Shield after a two-and-a-half year exodus, Turner – man of the match in Perth Scorchers’ Big Bash League final win last month – proved he can be a matchwinner across all formats.
WA’s outstanding pace attack restricted Victoria to totals of 195 and 210 in the first and second innings respectively.
The visitors lost four wickets for 10 runs to be 6-74 in the second dig before Will Sutherland dug in for a valiant 83 off 84 balls.
Struggling with a back injury after sending down 28 overs in WA’s first innings for figures of 5-75, Sutherland smacked eight fours and a six in a late resistance aided by contributions from Mitch Perry (20) and Todd Murphy (26).
He had little option but to go on the attack with Victoria needing to win outright to claim the title after being outpaced on bonus points.
The allrounder had been promoted to the captaincy during Handscomb’s absence on Test duties and his lion-hearted performance underscored why he is seen as one of the nation’s best young prospects.
Aaron Hardie (2-29) broke through before lunch on Sunday to have Sutherland caught at long off and Murphy at point.
Handscomb (52) was the only other batter to reach double figures in Victoria’s second dig.
The visitors’ first innings was notable for opener Ash Chandrasinghe’s epic unbeaten 46 off 280 balls and almost seven hours at the crease.
Matt Kelly (2-50, 4-41) led a WA pace battery which outperformed Victoria’s attack across the duration of the match.
Joel Paris claimed five wickets for the match and a valuable first-innings 31 in partnership with Turner, while firebrand Lance Morris produced figures of 3-53 and 1-69 in his first red-ball game in almost four months.
The hosts also excelled in the field.
Wyllie led the highlight reel with a superb diving catch at midwicket to dislodge Campbell Kellaway and precipitate Victoria’s second-innings collapse.
© AAP
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