Wade guides Bushrangers to victory

Victoria 219 and 5 for 171 (Wade 50*, Behrendorff 3-24) defeated Western Australia 248 and 138 (Pattinson 4-42) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

Australia's Test wicketkeeper Matthew Wade enhanced his reputation for making runs when most needed with a punchy 50 to guide Victoria to a five-wicket Sheffield Shield victory over Western Australia at the MCG.

Set 171 to win after James Pattinson, Jayde Herrick and Clint McKay shared the wickets to round the Warriors up for 138 in their second innings, the Bushrangers wobbled at 5 for 99 after the loss of three wickets for two runs.

However Wade wrested the initiative from the visitors with an innings that featured a trio of sixes, quickly whittling down the target to complete an unhappy week for WA cricket following the investigation into the conduct of the Perth Scorchers at the Twenty20 Champions League and Marcus North's resignation as captain.

Jason Behrendorff claimed three second innings wickets with his left-arm fast mediums for a haul of seven in the match, but he and the rest of the bowlers were not given quite enough runs to defend after their batsmen had folded meekly in the second innings.