NSW have snapped their 15-match winless run in the Sheffield Shield, shocking Western Australia to claim a 10-wicket victory at the SCG.
After resuming on day three needing three wickets for victory, NSW toiled for a little over 100 minutes in the field on Wednesday as Cameron Bancroft’s 54 helped WA reach 136 in their second innings.
That left the Blues requiring only two runs in the fourth innings to claim victory and end the leanest patch in the state’s 131-year history.
The result is easily one of the biggest shocks in recent memory.
NSW had not won a game in the four-day format since February 2022, enduring their worst winless run in the 15 games that followed.
WA, in contrast, had been beaten only twice in that time, winning back-to-back Sheffield Shield finals along the way.
The victory also follows just days after the Blues ended Western Australia’s 12-match winning streak in the 50-over competition, with a shock three-wicket result on Saturday.
NSW’s back-to-back success was built on the young and old.
Oliver Davies was instrumental in securing the win in the 50-over competition on the weekend and then backed it up with his maiden first-class century on Tuesday.
Recalled after being left out for the start of the season, Davies’ 129 from 143 balls took the game away from WA on day two of the Shield fixture.
The 23-year-old was one of the few batsmen to really get in on a lively SCG pitch, as WA were all out for 141 on day one before the Blues were dismissed for 276.
Then veteran Chris Tremain did the work with the ball with 5-35.
The 32-year-old seamer ripped through WA’s top order on the second afternoon and evening, at one stage having figures of 5-7 as the visitors fell to 6-34.
Liam Hatcher celebrates a wicket with teammates. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Bancroft provided one of the few real resistances, again aiding his Test cause with his 54 following his top score in the first innings with 34.
It at least saved WA from the embarrassment of an innings defeat within two days and could serve as a message to the Australian selectors given the struggles of his teammates.
But while Joel Paris (26) and Charlie Stobo (32) prolonged the inevitable late on day two and in the morning of day three, NSW were able to wrap up the chase in four balls just before lunch on Wednesday.
© AAP
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