WA into third straight Shield final, Vics shattered

Western Australia have booked a third straight home Sheffield Shield final after defeating a wounded Victoria and leapfrogging Tasmania to top spot on the ladder.

The dual defending champions needed everything to go right in their last regular-season game to keep alive their hopes of a Shield three-peat.

WA rose to the challenge, defeating the Vics by 138 runs in a virtual elimination final at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

Set 269 to win, the Vics were skittled for 130 late on a rain-affected day three of the match.

WA finished the campaign on 47.93 points, pipping Tasmania (47.36) in a nail-biting final round.

Victoria never looked like pulling off the unlikely run chase on a difficult pitch, stumbling to 3-31 with their three most experienced batters - Nic Maddinson, Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb - already dismissed.

Campbell Kellaway
Victoria's Campbell Kellaway plays a shot on his way to top-scoring against Western Australia.

Young left-hander Campbell Kellaway showed why he has a bright future, hitting 53 from 136 balls for his fifth first-class half-century.

After coming in at No.3, Kellaway survived the carnage around him as WA's bowlers worked in tandem to complete the match on Wednesday.

Spinner Corey Rocchiccioli (2-26) tore through the lower order to be on a hat-trick after dismissing Fergus O'Neill and Todd Murphy in consecutive balls.

Liam Haskett (3-12) finished with the best figures of his first-class career and ended the match after Kellaway was caught going for a slog pull shot.

Liam Haskett (centre)
WA teammates rush to congratulate Liam Haskett (centre) after the wicket of Campbell Kellaway.

Victoria captain Will Sutherland almost broke down when describing the pain of the defeat.

"Our batting let us down ... the boys ran out of steam a little bit with the ball," he said.

"We're still a young group, but I think this one does hurt quite a bit ... almost hurts more than making the final and losing, I don't know why."

Sutherland (back), Test quick Scott Boland (knee) and O'Neill (illness) all struggled through the match.

WA will host the five-day final against Tasmania at the WACA Ground, starting on March 21, after the Tigers blew a golden opportunity to ensure the decider was played in Hobart.

Tasmania started the round in the box seat to secure a home final, only needing to defeat South Australia at Blundstone Arena to lock it in.

But the Tigers suffered a shock 134-run loss - just their second defeat of the season - against the Redbacks to consign them to a trip to Perth.

WA are aiming to become just the third team this century, after Queensland (2000-02) and Victoria (2015-17), to win three straight Shield titles.

"The pleasing thing about this group is there's no real talk about three in a row," WA captain Sam Whiteman said.

"It's just about winning this year, and we've found this year that Shields are so hard to win, a lot of things need to go your way." 

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store