South Australia end Shield title drought with record final chase

After bossing the competition for most of the season and a see-sawing final for most of the first two-and-a-bit days, South Australia came from behind to complete a record-breaking run chase and secure a Shield win three decades in the waiting.

After an early stumble that raised memories of implosions past, new recruit Jason Sangha (126no) and Test keeper Alex Carey (105) forged a match-winning fourth-wicket partnership as Queensland's bowlers found no answers on a flat Karen Rolton Oval pitch.

Despite the loss of three wickets in a hurry as the target fell below 40 and the crowd packed every available vantage point at the transformed parklands venue, SA ended their 29-year Shield drought at 4.50pm from the first ball of the 70th over.

Fittingly it was Sangha – who had suffered a bout of cramp in his left hand before the ultimate over – who hit the winning run, clipping teenage quick Callum Vidler to the mid-wicket fence to unleash chaotic scenes as success-starved SA fans stormed the field.

The final margin of four wickets might tempt retrospective historians to claim the result was in the balance until the end, but the game SA had set up on day one after dominating the competition all season was effectively decided by the Sangha-Carey partnership after tea.

Carey had marched to the wicket shortly after the day's first drinks break with his team on the ropes, and it immediately became apparent he was on a mission to get hold of the prize that had eluded him in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 finals.

The 33-year-old had returned from a hectic summer of international duties – straight from the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan – because he wanted to be part of SA's push for a first Shield title since 1995-96.

That decision was vindicated when he posted his third century from as many first-class matches with a textbook straight drive for four off Mitchell Swepson, though his subdued celebration confirmed there was still a job to do with SA 49 runs from victory.

When he fell for 105 soon after, chopping on to his stumps for the second time in the match, he initially looked disappointed before warming to the standing ovation as Test teammate Marnus Labuschagne ran to shake his hand.

Sangha, who had survived a let off on 13 that cruelly proved vital after Queensland had been near-flawless in the field for most of the match, remained to oversee the final victory charge.

The 26-year-old's century, his second in what has proved a breakout maiden season with his adopted state, came from a more measured 158 balls but included two savage sixes that ignited SA's victory charge.

Sangha was handed a crucial life on 13, when he belatedly tried to withdraw his bat but the delivery from Steketee took the edge and flew quickly to the left of Ben McDermott at second slip.

McDermott, who has been in brilliant catching form throughout the final including a memorable one-handed grab to remove Ben Manenti on day two, got his left hand to the opportunity diving in front of Usman Khawaja but was unable to hang on.

It would have rendered SA 4-37 in the 18th over and all-but out of the contest, but Sangha and Carey then dug in before their partnership began to blossom on the cusp of lunch.

The win was effectively sealed when the pair batted through the second session and added 109 runs without loss as Queensland's brave battle to steal a game – which was effectively lost when they were dismissed for 95 on day one - ran out of steam.

When SA reached tea 3-182 needing 88 to win with Sangha and Carey having notched their 150-run stand, Queensland skipper Marnus Labuschagne looked for left-field tactics in search of a breakthrough but it only hastened the home team's victory charge.

With eight fielders packed into an off-side cordon and Jack Wildermuth instructed to ball short outside off stump, Carey punched the first ball of the session to point and hared off for a tight single.

Jack Clayton's throw at the unguarded striker's end stumps missed and, with only Mark Steketee on the leg side to stop the ball, it yielded four overthrows and the day's loudest cheer from a crowd that had swelled beyond 5000.

It was repeated next delivery when the tactic was tried again, and Sangha threaded the gap to collect four more and reduce the target to 79.

Sangha, in his first season with SA after losing his New South Wales contract, and Carey's 202-run union was the biggest in the fourth innings of a Shield final since Wayne N Phillips and Jamie Siddon's unbeaten 212 that carried Victoria to the 1990-91 Shield.

But it was perhaps more remarkable given they joined forces with SA on the brink of calamity at 3-28 after barely an hour's play and the target of 270 – never before reached in a fourth innings to win a Shield final – a distant goal.

It was when Sangha crunched a six over mid-wicket from a drag down by Mitchell Swepson to bring up SA's hundred that the previously subdued crowd began to believe.

After a flurry of runs either side of lunch, and with momentum clearly with the entrenched batting pair, Queensland were able to apply the squeeze as the ball got softer and signs of spin emerged for Swepson.

SA managed just five singles from as many overs with Swepson clearly troubling Sangha with his canny leg stump line from around the wicket and might have had the right-hander when he miscued an attempted tuck to leg but it safely cleared the bowler's head.

That seemed to signal a change in tactics from the SA pair,  with Sangha bravely aiming a check drive next over that barely cleared the fielder at extra cover and ran away for the first boundary in six overs.

Then Carey reached 50 with a trademark slog-sweep for six off Swepson, and with another boundary to Sangha from Wildermuth's next over the host's had reached the halfway point of their pursuit and were being noisily willed home.

Carey continued to chance his arm in a clear bid to break the game wide open, with an attempt to repeat his earlier six just eluding McDermott at wide mid-on then a genuine edge off Michael Neser that would have been a simple catch at slip if Labuschagne hadn't deployed his fielders elsewhere.

The runs-saving measure was a direct result of Sangha and Carey's intent throughout their 200-minute partnership, on a ground with a notoriously fast outfield where anything that pierces the inner ring invariably runs to the fence.

The Bulls had seemingly been called out by on-field umpires during the pre-lunch session for their preparedness to hurl the ball at the stumps even when run-outs weren't on offer, to potentially try and scuff the ball and gain some valuable reverse swing.

But as SA's bowlers discovered the previous day when they were put to the sword by Wildermuth, Jack Clayton and Steketee, once batters got set and the ball got soft, it was only a lapse in judgement or a moment of freakish inspiration that might bring a wicket.

As had been foreshadowed at the end of day three after Queensland's lower-order made hay against SA's second new ball, batting became an entirely different proposition once the wear and tear began to take its toll.

Given no team had reached 25 overs without surrendering at least two wickets across the game's first three days, it was bleedingly obvious today's opening hour would go a long way to determining the eventual outcome.

And that period belonged unequivocally to the Bulls.

Conor McInerney, player of the match when the teams met at the same venue a fortnight ago by dint of his maiden first-class century, nicked off for a duck in Neser's second over of the morning to provide a perfect gift for the seamer's 35th birthday.

Then Steketee, who had laboured for a return of 1-168 off more than 43 overs in his preceding three innings' bowling at the ground struck with his opening delivery to have McInerney's opening partner Henry Hunt smartly caught at second slip for six.

Hunt had started the Shield season in the form that earned him the competition's 2021-22 Player of the Year honour with three centuries prior to the break for BBL in December.

But since then the right-hander has found runs tough to come by, with 183 at an average of 13.1 for SA and the Cricket Australia XI in their series against England Lions with a top score of 66.

It's been a similar late-season story for Nathan McSweeney whose early summer form saw him earn a Baggy Green Cap and three Test appearances against India as well as a tour to Sri Lanka in January.

The SA skipper received a huge ovation when he punched Neser down the ground to open his scoring from the 13th delivery he faced, but he departed in worryingly familr circumstances having reached 14 in almost an hour of batting.

As was the case when he fell to Callum Vidler for 0 in the first innings, McSweeney became a victim of Queensland keeper Jimmy Peirson's athletic skill as he flung himself low to his right to glove another chance created by Steketee.

At 3-28 and the ball just 15 overs old after 75 minutes play, the game had tilted significantly in Queensland's favour as Carey joined Sangha to a nervous hush among the crowd at Rolton Oval.

Sheffield Shield final 2024-25

March 26-30: South Australia defeat Queensland by four wickets

The Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast live on Foxtel, Kayo Sports, cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Squads

South Australia: Nathan McSweeney (c), Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Conor McInerney, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton

Queensland: Marnus Labuschagne (c), Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Usman Khawaja, Angus Lovell, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Callum Vidler, Jack Wildermuth