Western Australia vs Victoria
After a 15-wicket day in Melbourne, the match between Victoria and Western Australia is expected to come down to an intriguing conclusion. Victoria lost wickets at regular intervals in the second day, with only Mitchell Perry and Matthew Short making a significant contribution. Prior to stumps on the first day, Victoria had already lost Nic Maddinson. After Western Australia had a dreadful start to their second innings, Cameron Gannon cleaned up the tail and concluded with a five-wicket haul to give his team a 100-run advantage. That proved to be important in the end.
While Fergus O’Neill shook the batting side to drop them to 31/4, Cameron Bancroft put up a resolute resistance and the others folded around him. After that, Bancroft and Josh Inglis helped their team recover, but now that the wicketkeeper has left the game at 45, it is up to the opening to score some crucial runs on the last day. With four wickets remaining, WA leads by 219 runs at this point. If they win and Tasmania loses against South Australia, they could be able to make it to the home final.
Brief scores: Josh Inglis 45, Fergus O’Neil 3/30, and Western Australia 244 & 119/6 lead Victoria 144 (Matthew Short 53, Cameron Gannon 5/42) by 219 runs.
Australia vs Tasmania
South Australia set Tasmania a goal of 324 to win the game, putting them in risk of losing their grasp on a home final. Having already been unsettled before to stumping, Tasmania was in trouble at 48/6 after losing Matthew Wade early in the day. After Tasmania gave away a lead of 148 runs, Jake Doran struck a vital fifty to take his team beyond 100.
The second essay saw their bowlers come back to help them battle back, but Harry Nielsen’s fifty proved to be crucial as South Australia concluded with 175. That was sufficient to set a goal of more over 300, and they also dismissed Wade for the second time that day, giving Tasmania pause. Now, they need 316 runs more to win the match at home.
Brief scores: 8/1 need an additional 316 runs versus South Australia 271 & 175 (Harry Nielsen 53; Beau Webster 3/37) & Tasmania 123 (Jake Doran 52; Nathan McAndrew 6/44)
New South Wales against Queensland
New South Wales had a successful second day and went into stumps with a lead of 78 after missing much of the day’s play on Monday due to rain. Xavier Bartlett’s counterattacking innings, which featured five sixes, stunned the opposition at one point when Queensland was struggling at 49/6 and ultimately saw his team end with 144. After that, Bartlett seemed so confident that he hit a boundary off the first ball, but NSW rallied. Mitchell Swepson momentarily put NSW in danger by getting half-centurion Sam Konstas and Moises Henriques off consecutive deliveries, but Oliver Davies put his side in control with an undefeated 79.
Brief scores: Queensland 144 (Xavier Bartlett 70; Chris Tremain 6/20) are behind by 78 runs by New South Wales 222/5 (Oliver Davies 79*, Sam Konstas 57, Callum Vidler 2/50) runs.
