NSW hope to have Abbott, Tanveer Sangha for crucial final Shield round

Even though pole position was up for grabs in the fight to make the Sheffield Shield final, both Western Australia and New South Wales decided to play it relatively safe in an anti-climax of a finish that resulted in a draw at the WACA.

It was a gamble with just one round left in the season. Both teams now have to rely on other results to qualify for the final against South Australia in Adelaide. Queensland have leapfrogged into second place on 36.8 points ahead of NSW (35.39) and WA (34.43), with Victoria still a mathematical possibility at 32.49.

There were eyebrows raised when WA, known to be somewhat conservative in these situations, batted cautiously for much of the first session on the final day as they went about sedately setting a target. Hilton Cartwright, who finished with a first-class career best of 171 not out, and Sam Fanning finally put the foot down either side of lunch before WA declared and set NSW 281 runs from 57 overs.

NSW then decided that the chase was too difficult on a tricky surface that had proven tough for batters against the new ball.

"We wanted anywhere between 250 and 300," Cartwright said. "We knew when the ball got soft it was easier to bat. We didn't want to give them too many overs with not enough runs. If we gave them 70 overs to chase 250, that probably would have been quite easy for them.

"We wanted to try and work out the balance... trying to give ourselves enough time to bowl them out, but also entice them to try and chase the score. We did think that they might have had more of a crack at the total because [a win] would go a long way towards being in the final."

After NSW lost opener Nic Maddison in the first over, Sam Konstas and Kurtis Patterson shut up shop with a 50-run partnership in 23 overs. There were some tense moments briefly but NSW were never in serious danger and finished on 130 for 4 after watchful half-centuries from Konstas and Matthew Gilkes.

"Maybe [expecting a declaration] a bit earlier," NSW captain Jack Edwards said. "They batted us out of the game and earned the right to drive the game. Losing [Maddinson], we decided to pack it up. [Konstas] played well. He showed how much of a good natural player he is when is applying himself."

The fates of both teams are out of their hands, but they will need to stay focused in what are now must-win games. NSW will next travel to Bellerive Oval and will be favoured against Tasmania who have little to play for with their season over.

NSW might regain the services of seam bowling allrounder Sean Abbott and legspinner Tanveer Sangha, who have returned from the Champions Trophy.

"I'm hoping so, having guys like that come back goes a long way for us to win that game," Edwards said. "We're looking to win the next match and just put our best foot forward and see what happens."

WA next play Victoria at the WACA with their dreams of keeping alive a historic four-peat on the line. They are set to be without the services of quick Lance Morris, who completed rare back-to-back Shield matches.

Coming off a stress fracture last winter as well as a quad strain late in the pre-season, Morris has a restriction of around 30 overs a game. He claimed a first-class career best of 5 for 26 from 20.3 overs in NSW's first innings and there was intrigue over how many overs he would bowl on the final day.

Morris ended up bowling 12 overs, including a couple at the end where he unleashed several searing yorkers in a last gasp attempt at a miracle. But Morris was unable to rediscover his control and accuracy from earlier in the match to finish with 0 for 41.

Quick Brody Couch is a like-for-like replacement and has had a strong Shield season since crossing over from Victoria with 21 wickets at 22.85. Allrounder Cooper Connolly will be available having returned from the Champions Trophy, but Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie will likely miss as they prepare for the IPL.

"[Connolly] came in during the game and said g'day, it's always good having him around. He'll bolster the batting," Cartwright said. "We've got to entirely focus on what happens in our camp. If things fall our way, obviously that will be nice if that happens. But we've got to tick our own boxes before we look at [the other] games over east."