Short and Elliott star as Victoria go top of the table
The visitors won with 14 overs to spare which was enough to claim a bonus point
AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff
11-Nov-2023
Victoria 160 for 4 (Short 81*) beat Tasmania 156 (Webster 47, Elliott 5-26, O'Neill 3-33) by six wickets
Victoria jumped to top of the domestic one-day table after securing a convincing six-wicket win over Tasmania in a low-scoring contest in Launceston.
After captain Peter Handscomb won the toss and elected to bowl first, Victoria knocked over the home side for 156 with quick Sam Elliott taking 4 for 26.
In just his eighth 50-over game for his state, Elliott, the son of former Test opener Matthew, skittled the lower-order to finish with career-best figures.
Elliott also claimed the crucial wicket of Beau Webster, with the dangerman dismissed for an innings-best of 47.
In-form opening bowler Fergus O'Neill did the damage early, cleaning up the Tasmania top-order of Matthew Wade, Caleb Jewell and Charlie Wakim.
They were left reeling at 42 for 4 following those breakthroughs and the hosts were never able to recover to post a defendable total.
Victoria, led by star opener Matthew Short, took their time in the chase but were able to bring up their fourth win of the season with 14 overs to spare.
They had briefly wobbled on 105 for 4 when Peter Handscomb and Sam Harper fell in quick succession, the latter bowled by a beauty from left-arm spinner Paddy Dooley who had taken a good catch at fine leg to remove Handscomb.
But Short made batting look easy as he brought up the victory with a four down the ground, finishing unbeaten on 81 off 88 balls. In the 28-year-old's last one-day match, he pounded 134 against Queensland in Mackay.
Short will soon join the Australian squad for the five-match T20 series against India after the completion of the ODI World Cup.
Victoria leapfrogged defending champions Western Australia into top spot, while Tasmania remain fourth with a 2-3 record.
Victoria will be back in action on Thursday when they host Queensland in an important Sheffield Shield match at the MCG.
Tasmania will stay put at home to host the resurgent NSW next Saturday in a four-day game.