Boland puts Vics on top in crucial Shield clash

Star quick Scott Boland has struck twice before stumps to put Victoria on top in their Sheffield Shield clash with ladder-leaders South Australia.

After Victoria made 285 on being sent in on a green pitch at the Junction Oval, SA slumped to 2-40 at stumps on Thursday.

It was typical Boland as the star quick went straight through the gate of SA opener Conor McInerney in the innings' opening over. 

Captain Nathan McSweeney (9no) and Jason Sangha (19no) will attempt to dig their team out of trouble when they resume on Friday.

A win in Melbourne would secure SA a home final as they hunt a first Shield title in 29 years.

Victoria's Campbell Kellaway (79) batted superbly after losing his opening partner Marcus Harris in the second over of the day.

Kellaway and Vic debutant Blake Macdonald (45), who had previous played Shield cricket for NSW, put on a 122-run stand before SA hit back by taking 4-16, including 3-0.

But some important middle and lower order runs from Sam Harper (44) and Xavier Crone (34no) ensured Victoria ended with a  solid total on a difficult surface.

Despite entering the second-last round in fourth, Victoria still have a good chance to qualify for the final.

Henry Thornton (4-42) and Jordan Buckingham (4-70) did the damage with the ball for SA.

Boland, who starred for Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy but missed out on playing a Test in Sri Lanka, bowled McInerney with the last ball of the first over of the innings and then had Henry Hunt caught for one as they collapsed to 2-8.

McSweeney and Sangha were able to steady and survive until stumps.

Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25

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 South Australia Men SA	10	6	1	3	0	0	7.61	9	55.61
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	3	3	4	0	0	9.06	8.7	39.76
3 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	5	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	39.49
4 NSW Men NSW	10	3	4	3	0	0	6.99	8.4	36.39
5 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	3	5	2	0	0	7.72	8.2	35.92
6 Western Australia Men WA	10	3	4	3	0	0	5.83	8.6	35.43

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