Sutherland stars as Victoria progress amid pitch controversy

Victoria 4 for 108 (Short 43, Gotch 25*, Starc 3-35) beat New South Wales 144 (Maddinson 28, Sutherland 4-11, Fawad 3-24) by 35 runs via the DLS method
Scorecard

Teenager Will Sutherland produced a breakout four-wicket burst to set up Victoria's win over New South Wales at the North Sydney Oval. Apart from knocking out the home team, the result earned Victoria a playoff berth against South Australia, with Cricket Australia awarding the Bushrangers a bonus point for their superior net run rate. The winner of the Bushrangers-South Australia match will progress to face Western Australia in the domestic limited-overs final.

The extra point, however, meant curtains for Tasmania. Had the Bushrangers not received the additional point, Tasmania could have still qualified ahead of Victoria by winning their final match in Hobart on Thursday.

The finish was marred by the game's abandonment due to an unsafe pitch, leaving the Bushrangers to be declared winners via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations after 26 overs had been bowled under lights. Victoria had made 108 for 4 at that point and were deemed to be ahead of the DLS par score by 35 runs.

Andrew Jones, the NSW chief executive, was highly critical of the decision. "It should be a No Result," Jones wrote on Twitter. "Conditions didn't change all game so if it was dangerous for one side it was dangerous for the other. This is right up there with declaring BISP [Blacktown International Sports Park] pitch dangerous right after highest batting partnership in history of FC cricket."

The Blacktown match was a tour fixture between New Zealand and a CA XI in 2015 that was abandoned after a record opening stand between Ryan Carters and Aaron Finch.

Will, son of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, played a key role in ensuring the Bushrangers gave themselves the best chance of reaching the playoff by plucking the wickets of Ryan Gibson, Ed Cowan, Mitchell Starc and Doug Bollinger. It was a startling display in just his second match, having started the tournament listed as a rookie and then called up to replace an unfit Cameron White.

Victoria's chase was successful despite another improved display by Starc, who claimed three wickets in his third match back from injury. Test spinner Nathan Lyon was rested from the match due to a sore shoulder after he fell awkwardly in the field against Queensland on Friday. Fellow spinner Steve O'Keefe, suspended from the tournament, broke a finger while playing club cricket for Manly on the weekend and is expected to be out of action for around six weeks.