Defending champions Western Australia's Shield reign is over, falling short against Victoria
Match Report: Victoria win by 34 runs
ScorecardWA come up just short of fourth-straight Shield final
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Western Australia have come within 35 runs of earning the chance to play for a fourth consecutive Sheffield Shield title, falling to Victoria in their must-win final match of the regular season.
Victoria (197 and 9d-370) set the hosts 382 runs for victory on day four at the WACA Ground, where a win would also have booked WA a spot in next week's final against South Australia.
Western Australia (186 and 347) toiled valiantly, with Hilton Cartwright (79) top-scoring and Joel Paris (45) leading a gallant fightback in the tail.
But playing what was likely to be his final Sheffield Shield match, veteran quick Peter Siddle denied Western Australia a win against the odds when No.10 Corey Rocchiccioli (20) clipped him to the keeper in the third-last over of the day.
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The result means Queensland will lock up second place on the ladder and face South Australia in next week's final at Karen Rolton Oval after the two top-ranked sides played out a draw that finished there earlier on Tuesday.
WA's target looked a long way off when Siddle (4-68) dismissed captain Sam Whiteman without scoring on the second ball of the innings.
But two-time Test player Cartwright (79) led a fightback in the middle order that had the hosts daring to dream at 4-233.
Victoria captain Will Sutherland (4-79) rattled Cartwright's off-stump short of an 11th first-class century, leaving the hosts to regroup.
The full ball does the trick and Cartwright's great innings ends! #SheffieldShield pic.twitter.com/lFfP8ORUdm
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 18, 2025
Cooper Connolly burst onto the first-class scene in last year's tournament final and emerged as Western Australia's last recognised batter to seal another berth.
Connolly (56) reached his half-century with a six over long on from spinner Todd Murphy, the man he replaced in the XI on Test debut against Sri Lanka last month.
But when he hit Siddle straight to Harry Dixon at cover, Western Australia were into the bowlers and still required 99 runs.
Campbell Kellaway leapt in the air for a spectacular one-handed catch in the deep that halted Cameron Gannon's fightback on 19 from Will Sutherland's bowling, before Paris resumed the push.
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But WA were limping to the finish when he edged Sutherland to Blake Macdonald behind the stumps, with the hosts coming up agonisingly short.
Adding insult to injury, WA's loss has meant they will fall to the bottom of the ladder to finish the season, the first time they have finished at the foot of the Shield table since 1963-64.
Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25
| Team | M | W | L | D | N/R | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SA
|
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.61 | 9 | 55.61 |
|
2
QLD
|
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.06 | 8.7 | 39.76 |
|
3
VIC
|
10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.19 | 9.3 | 39.49 |
|
4
NSW
|
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.99 | 8.4 | 36.39 |
|
5
TAS
|
10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7.72 | 8.2 | 35.92 |
|
6
WA
|
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.83 | 8.6 | 35.43 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points