Smith finds runs as teen rookie shines in one-day blockbuster

Steve Smith found his groove ahead of the international summer as teenage quick Charlie Anderson shone in a star-studded contest to take NSW to the top of the One-Day Cup standings.

Smith hit a fluent half-century from No.3 as he and Nic Maddinson (63) anchored NSW's 8-336 after being sent in by Victoria at Junction Oval.

Matt Short hit Australian captain Pat Cummins' first two deliveries in domestic cricket in more than three-and-a-half years to the fence as he blazed a six-laden 58-ball 80 in reply in his return from an abductor injury.

But the Australian white-ball opener fell amid a flurry of wickets by debutant Anderson, who also claimed the wickets of Glenn Maxwell (21) and Tom Rogers (4) to swing the momentum.

From there Victoria's chase fell apart and they were bowled out for 196 in the 35th over.

Josh Hazlewood was a false starter for NSW after coming down ill overnight, but a healthy crowd still braved a brief Melbourne downpour to catch a glimpse of Cummins, Smith and Maxwell in a rare appearance for their respective states.

Josh Philippe (38) continued his hot start to the season in a 73-run opening stand with Maddinson after Victorian captain Will Sutherland won the toss with the match reduced to 45 overs per side.

After managing just scores of 3 and 0 in the corresponding Sheffield Shield clash earlier in the week, Smith immediately hit his straps with a series of cover drives through the off-side and flicks over leg.

He brought up his first half-century with a ramp for two off spinner Todd Murphy but was then tied down by Sutherland and Peter Siddle (5-49) and was adjudged lbw to the veteran right-armer shortly after for a 53-ball 56.

His knock set the platform for a whirlwind finish from left-hander Matthew Gilkes (74 from 42) who slammed four sixes and eight fours to push the visitors' total beyond 300.

Cummins also hit his first ball faced for six but was out on his second, handing 39-year-old Siddle his maiden one-day five-wicket haul in his 81st List A match.

Victoria was well in the hunt thanks to Short's early onslaught, who continued on from his series clinching fifty against England in his last match to help Victoria reach 1-70 after the 10-over Powerplay.

Sam Harper (8) and Short helped themselves to three sixes in Anderson's first two overs, who shared the new ball with Cummins in his first match bowling since last season, where he also took 1-42 in Australia's men's Under-19 World Cup final triumph in February.

Anderson had overcome stress fracture during the off-season and revealed he only found he was playing an hour before the match following Hazlewood withdrawal.

He had to borrow teammate Sam Konstas' shirt as he didn't bring any playing kit to Melbourne where he only expected to shadow Australia fast bowler Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc as part of his development.

While understandably admitting nerves in his opening two-over spell, the young right-armer rebounded to change the game in his second with the wickets of Rogers, Short and Maxwell across his next four overs.

"I'd like to see what my heart rate was in that first spell," Anderson said post-match.

"I was a lot more relaxed (for my second spell); I had 'Patty' (Cummins) and Moises (Henriques) next to me, so I can't ask for two better blokes to help get me through a spell.

"Who better to ask than the best bowler in the world?

"Coming onto bowl, I obviously got hit a little bit in the first spell, so I asked (Cummins), 'what do you think?'

"And he said the wise words of 'just keep it simple and bowl you'."

Spinners Chris Green (3-27) and Tanveer Sangha (2-48) then mopped up the tail as the Vics slumped to a 140-run defeat.

The result sees NSW jump Victoria into top spot in the One-Day Cup standings with the two sides next matches both against South Australia in early November.

One-Day Cup standings 2024-25

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Total points PTS
1 NSW Men NSW	3	2	0	0	1	1.558	0	1	11
2 Victoria Men VIC	3	2	1	0	0	-0.171	0	1	9
3 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	3	1	1	0	1	0.738	0	1	7
4 Queensland Bulls QLD	4	1	2	0	1	0.619	0	1	7
5 South Australia Men SA	3	1	1	0	1	-0.851	0	0	6
6 Western Australia Men WA	4	1	3	0	0	-1.093	0	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

PTS: Total points