Rocchiccioli bags career-best haul as Queensland stumble

Spinner Corey Rocchiccioli has bagged his best first-class figures as Western Australia dominated Queensland on day one of their Sheffield Shield game.

Rocchiccioli snared 7-52 as the Queenslanders were bowled out for 147 at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

WA cruised to 1-112 in reply, with Sam Whiteman making 67 and Sam Fanning unbeaten on 41 at stumps.

The West Australians (24.91 points) are in last place, with Queensland (27.75) third on a table topped by South Australia (36.93).

But with three games including this fixture remaining, Rocchiccioli's feats have given WA a superb opportunity to jump up the ladder.

The 27-year-old had never previously taken five wickets in a first-class innings but spun his way to a career-best day.

Rocchiccioli captured seven of the last nine wickets to fall as the Bulls batters struggled.

Ben McDermott top-scored with 37 from 112 balls. Next best were No.10 Mitchell Swepson (20no from 23 balls) and No.8 Xavier Bartlett (20 from 30).

Bulls stalwarts Matthew Renshaw (11), Jimmy Peirson (18) and Michael Neser (11) were among those to fall cheaply against Rocchiccioli and paceman Cameron Gannon (2-32).

Neser fell to a superb one-handed catch from Rocchiccioli, diving to his right from his own bowling.

The offspinner also took a smart, diving return catch to dismiss Renshaw.

WA's openers Whiteman and Fanning then cashed in for the visitors with their unbroken partnership.

Whiteman set an aggressive tone, smacking seven fours and three sixes in his 88-ball innings before being bowled by Tom Whitney (1-31) about 25 minutes before stumps.

Fanning was more circumspect, striking two fours from his 107 deliveries.

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	9	6	1	2	0	0	5.46	8.3	51.76
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	9	3	3	3	0	0	7.5	8.3	36.8
3 NSW Men NSW	9	3	3	3	0	0	6.99	7.4	35.39
4 Western Australia Men WA	9	3	3	3	0	0	5.83	7.6	34.43
5 Victoria Men VIC	9	3	5	1	0	0	5.19	8.3	32.49
6 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	9	2	5	2	0	0	6.41	7.2	27.61

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