Victoria 8 for 260 (Moss 59, Rummans 51) beat South Australia 8 for 254 (Blewett 98, Cosgrove 55) by six runs
Scorecard

Victoria held on to beat South Australia by six runs in their ING Cup match at the MCG. Chasing Victoria's 8 for 260, the Redbacks needed 15 runs from Ian Hewett's final over but could manage just eight and finished on 8 for 254.

Hewett finished the day on a high note after spilling two catches in the field by having South Australia's captain Darren Lehmann LBW for 44 off the third-last ball of the match. Hewett had earlier dropped both Greg Blewett and Mark Cosgrove - mistakes that looked to have cost his side dearly. But he followed Lehmann's dismissal by removing Mark Cleary (0) first ball and finished with 3 for 41.

South Australia looked to be headed for victory with Blewett's return to form in the one-dayers with 98, including a 122-run stand with Cosgrove (55). But the Bushrangers hit back when Andrew McDonald had Blewett out LBW in the 43rd over and his dismissal was the first of a fall of 5 for 41. With Blewett and Cosgrove out of the way, it was left to captain Lehmann to get SA home but his exit effectively ended his side's hopes.

Hewett gave Cosgrove a let-off at mid-off when the left-hander was on 29 and then spilled a chance off Blewett (then 89) at deep cover, and to add insult, the ball trickled to the boundary. Blewett had made just 96 runs in six limited overs innings before today.

Earlier, Victoria made a bright start with the bat then slumped to 5 for 168 with a third of the innings remaining, as the adventurous batting it used with devastating effect to beat New South Wales last week looked to become its downfall.

Jonathan Moss (59) and David Hussey (32) fell to catches just as they hit full stride. But Graeme Rummans (51) made the most of a rare start for Victoria - just his second in both competitions this season - and shared in a sixth wicket stand of 65 stand with McDonald (28).

From there, Hewett (15 not out) and wicketkeeper Peter Roach (7) played tip and run and in their search for quick runs towards the close, even ran into each other mid-pitch. Roach was out LBW to Shaun Tait off the last ball of the innings.