Boland and Sutherland help Victoria seal dramatic win over Queensland
Queensland were looking to survive for a draw, but Victoria eventually won a pulsating contest
AAP
19-Nov-2023
Scott Boland finished the game with eight wickets • Getty Images
Victoria 300 for 7 dec (Harris 73, Handscomb 66, Wildermuth 3-49) and 190 for 9 dec (Sutherland 66, Guthrie 6-60) beat Queensland 219 (Wildermuth 40, Boland 4-47) and 158 (Street 46, Sutherland 4-32, Boland 4-49) by 113 runs
Will Sutherland and Scott Boland combined for eight wickets to lead Victoria to a pulsating 113-run Sheffield Shield victory over Queensland at the MCG.
Chasing 272 for victory in 87 overs, Queensland were dismissed for 158 in 81.5 overs late on the final day, with Sutherland (4-32 off 19 overs) and Boland (4-49) proving crucial.
Victoria's second win of the season lifted them into fourth spot, with Queensland now last.
"It was a really good team performance, probably one of the best wins I've played in," Sutherland said. "Unbelievable effort from the boys."
Victoria started the day at 156 for 6 in their second innings, and they added 34 in seven overs before declaring at 190 for 9.
Matt Renshaw was the first Queenslander to fall when he edged Boland to Sutherland at first slip. Joe Burns should have been dismissed next ball, but Sutherland dropped a tough chance at slip.
The dropped catch proved costly - not for how many runs Burns scored, but by how much time he was able to chew up. Burns scored 9 off 55 balls before edging Boland behind, 22 overs after he was first dropped.
The final wicket
— Victorian Cricket Team (@VicStateCricket) November 19, 2023
What a fight from the boys #vicsdoitbetter pic.twitter.com/RgfWJLtO1f
Sutherland made up for that earlier miss by snaring the scalps of Bryce Street (46 off 134 balls) and Jack Clayton to reduce Queensland to 86 for 4.
He wasn't done yet. The 24-year-old took a catch low and to his left at slip off the bowling of Boland to remove the dangerous Usman Khawaja.
Sutherland, who scored a crucial 66 with the bat in Victoria's second innings, then trapped Jimmy Peirson lbw for 16. He had his fourth wicket when James Bazley edged one behind - with Peter Handscomb's fumble at second slip snapped up by Will Pucovski.
At 146 for 8 with 12.4 overs remaining, it was all about survival for Queensland. They still had two wickets in hand with 33 balls remaining in the match.
But their hopes of salvaging a draw were dashed in the blink of an eye when Fergus O'Neill removed Gurinder Sandhu and Mitchell Swepson in consecutive balls, sparking wild celebrations.
"It's never nice to lose a game," Queensland captain Khawaja said. "We were probably never in the contest to win the game. But credit to Victoria, they played the game really well. I thought they declared at really good times, they allowed the game to move forward. They deserved the win."