Lehmann secures SA a home Shield final with stunning century

Jake Lehmann struck an unbeaten century and Liam Scott chipped in with 83 as South Australia secured hosting rights for this summer's Sheffield Shield final by beating Victoria.

Meanwhile, the four-wicket loss leaves Victoria's Shield title hopes hanging by a thread after Lehmann inspired a stunning fourth innings chase at the Junction Oval.

Needing a challenging 300 for victory, SA were in big trouble at 4-108 after Henry Hunt (66) joined Conor McInerney (1), Nathan McSweeney (18) and Jason Sangha (0) back in the pavilion.

But a 148-run stand between Lehmann (105 not out off 193 balls) and Liam Scott (83 off 137) turned the match on its head, helping propel South Australia to victory.

Lehmann notched his 12th first-class century and also brought up the winning runs by striking three consecutive boundaries off Xavier Crone. 

The result means South Australia will host the Sheffield Shield final, irrespective of how they fare in their final-round match against Queensland in Adelaide.

The venue for the final is yet to be determined but South Australia are petitioning to hold it at Adelaide Oval between round two and three of the Australian Football League season.

If Victoria had won, they would have finished the round as high as second.

But the loss has left them struggling for survival in fifth spot and now requiring a minor miracle to scrape into the final.

Not only do the Vics need to beat WA at the WACA Ground in the final round, they must also rely on South Australia beating Queensland, and last-placed Tasmania defeating NSW.

Victoria were all smiles early on Sunday when they made significant inroads into South Australia's top order.

McSweeney was the first batter to fall for the day, trapped lbw by Fergus O'Neill after South Australia had added just seven runs to their overnight total of 1-47.

O'Neill found the edge of Sangha two balls later as SA slumped to 3-54, and Hunt's resistance was over when he skied Sam Elliott to the deep.

But it was the Scott and Lehmann show from that point on, with the pair's partnership taking the game away from Victoria.

South Australia needed just 44 more runs when Scott fell, edging Scott Boland to slip to end his hopes of scoring a maiden Shield ton.

Lehmann was dropped on 80 by Campbell Kellaway at short cover with the score reading 5-258, and he made the most of the reprieve to guide his team to victory late on the final day alongside Ben Manenti who was unbeaten on 14.

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