Pura Cup ambitions poised for Final countdown

Queensland is excellently placed and South Australia will start with its nose in front in the battle within a battle this weekend. But the jockeying for positions in the Pura Cup Final is far from cut and dried as Australia's six domestic teams head into the most important month of their calendar.

With only two rounds of preliminary matches to go, here's what each of the teams needs to do to maximise its chances of appearing in the 2001-02 Pura Cup Final:

Queensland: The collection of first innings points from either of their games against New South Wales or Victoria should be enough to assure the Bulls of their place in a fourth successive first-class decider. They are already eight points clear of nearest challenger South Australia, and ten in front of both Western Australia and Tasmania. Prospects of a home Final are also looking strong, with one of those three teams needing to collect outright points in both of the last two rounds to have any chance of threatening that outcome. An outright victory for the Bulls from either of its remaining encounters will decisively seal the issue regardless of what its closest competitors achieve.

South Australia: Alone in second place as the last two rounds begin, the Redbacks hold an important advantage over nearest rivals Western Australia and Tasmania in the race for finals spots. Their aspirations are further assisted by the fact that those two states are their opponents in the closing two rounds. Importantly, an outright win over either should be enough not only to enhance their own chances of qualification but also to shut the vanquished side out of contention altogether. Even the collection of only first innings wins in the course of draws in each of the last two games could be enough to seal the Redbacks' first finals berth for six years. Albeit that such an outcome might still produce the messy spectre of second spot on the table being resolved by the comparison of at least two teams' quotients.

Western Australia: Talk around Perth at the moment might be of apparent dissension in their dressing room, but the Warriors still remain well placed to qualify for a fifth Final in seven seasons. Just two points behind second-placed South Australia and level with Tasmania, they should be able to rely on only one of those teams taking points from their penultimate match. An appointment with Victoria in Melbourne meanwhile shapes as a real opportunity to collect some points of their own, before the chance to take control of their destiny arrives in the form of their meeting with South Australia in a crucial match in the last round. An outright loss to the Redbacks would kill the state's chances of qualification altogether; the collection of points of some kind from each of the last two games would alternatively leave the Warriors in good shape. The battle is so tight, nonetheless, that two emphatic outright victories look their best way of trying to guarantee a spot.

Tasmania: The Tasmanians, equal on points with Western Australia and only two behind second-placed South Australia, are right in the mix for finals positions. But at least one outright win from their last two matches looks likely to be of paramount importance in consolidating their ambitions. If other results went the right way, the Tigers could qualify for a Final in Brisbane with no more than first innings wins in each of their last two games. But, with the Redbacks and Warriors drawn to meet each other in the last round, insurance would be best won with a six-pointer somewhere. Like the Warriors, what they can not afford is an outright defeat at the hands of South Australia. Any result that gives the Redbacks six points to the Tigers' none in Adelaide would kill any hopes of only the state's third appearance in a first-class final in history. More worryingly, it is also possible for the state to produce outright victories in each of its last two games and still miss out on the Final.

Victoria: The Bushrangers have endured an unfulfilling campaign this season in their quest to reach the competition's ultimate match for the third successive time. To redress the situation, they would need to collect points from each of their last two matches and then rely on other results working in their favour as well. They almost certainly need at least two outright victories, though it is vaguely conceivable that they could find a way of scraping through on quotient with one outright win and one on the first innings only. But the task is still complicated by the small problem that they must venture to Brisbane in the last round. Only once in the last 35 years has a Victorian team been able to take full points away from a match at the 'Gabba. A meeting with Western Australia in Melbourne is by no means an easy assignment either.

New South Wales: Points from each of the last two games are vital if the Blues are to have any hope of reaching their first Pura Cup/Sheffield Shield Final in eight years. They have two of the harder assignments in the competition awaiting them, though. They meet ladder leader Queensland in Sydney on a ground that has provided some of the least-friendly result pitches in the country this season, then travel to Hobart to meet Tasmania in the knowledge that the Tigers have demolished each of their two most recent opponents at that venue. As with Victoria, the odds look to be stacked against them unless they can detect a way of rustling up two outright wins. And, even then, the best they could still hope for - if a succession of other results worked in their favour - would be a trip to Brisbane for the decider.