Tasmania beat Vics to put one foot into Shield decider

Tasmania have one foot in the Marsh Sheffield Shield final after clinching a "nervy" victory over Victoria on the final morning of their see-sawing contest at Blundstone Arena.

The Vics began day four with only two wickets in hand needing 69 runs to pull off a record fourth-innings chase of 442 but lost captain Will Sutherland and No.11 Peter Siddle inside the first 20 minutes of play in Hobart.

With one round to go in the competition, the 57-run victory sees the Tigers move into pole position to host the decider in Hobart later this month.

Tasmania, now on 46.36 points after their fifth win for the season, will be close to being a game clear in top spot even if Western Australia defeat Queensland later today.

"It's huge," player-of-the-match Beau Webster said of the prospect of making the five-day Shield final.

"We obviously haven't been in one since 2017(-18) and we haven't won one in 13 years, so it's massive for our state and our playing group.

"We've still got another game left against SA down here. Hoping to win that and then hoping we can host it, which would be massive for us."

It's a cruel blow for the second-placed Vics, who will now drop to third unless the Bulls can bat all day to deny reigning champions WA in Perth.

Sutherland's men will next week rekindle their rivalry with WA, who have beaten the Vics in the past two Shield finals, in an intriguing contest that shapes as a virtual semi-final at the Junction Oval.

A date with the Tigers likely awaits the victor unless Jordan Silk's side slips up in its final match against South Australia in Hobart.

Resuming on 8-373, the Vics' hopes of icing a comeback victory on Monday were dashed by pace pair Gabe Bell (3-39 off 30 overs) and Iain Carlisle (4-68 from 21.1) who took the final two wickets to fall.

A collapse of 4-25 late on day three thrust Tasmania back into the box seat after Nic Maddinson (109) posted his third century in as many matches while sharing in a 178-run opening stand with Marcus Harris (76).

"It was nervy. 'Maddo' and 'Harry' were putting us to the sword pretty comfortably there," said Webster.

"Some big breakthroughs from Riley (Meredith) and 'Belly', who was outstanding all game. It was a wonderful game of cricket … and bloody glad we got the chocolates."

Webster's game-turning 167no off just 180 balls, in addition to snaring three wickets with his medium pacers, saw him awarded the Scott Mason Memorial Medal.

Will Pucovski had returned home to Melbourne after being struck by a Meredith bouncer that ruled him out of the match, and possibly the season given his history of concussions.

"I think he's in good spirits, I spoke to him today, he seems all right," said Sutherland. "He's headed home already, hopefully he can look after himself and be back playing as soon as possible."

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