Bulls seal much-needed Shield win with steady chase

Queensland's batters found some welcome assuredness in a seven-wicket defeat of South Australia that keeps alive faint hopes of a berth in the Marsh Sheffield Shield final.

The Bulls defied two days of play dominated by the ball - and some batting struggles of their own in recent matches - to ease to 3-206 at the Adelaide Oval. 

Marnus Labuschagne (45), Jack Clayton (54 not out) and Ben McDermott (46 not out) played contrasting innings, McDermott's a breezy cameo to see the visitors home after Labuschagne batted with supreme patience earlier in the day.

It was only the second win from eight Shield matches for Queensland this season, but it was enough to mathematically keep them in the hunt for a top-two finish with two games still to play.

The Redbacks had lost 5-18 on Saturday after putting themselves in a dominant position following paltry first-innings totals from both teams. 

Alex Carey's 90 at least gave them 205 to defend, and when Matthew Renshaw (14) popped his pull shot straight into the air early on day three the hosts were right in the mix.

But second-gamer Angus Lovell (35) and Labuschagne steadied before the Test No.3 broke the shackles with three boundaries and a six over mid-off inside two overs.

He, like Lovell, fell attempting a pull shot, but the Bulls still cruised to victory a dozen overs after the tea break.

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points