The Parade College Writing Workshop – Rowan Saw: NSW v Victoria Sheffield Shield clash

 

By Rowan Saw

 

On the 14 February, the clash between Victoria and New South Wales kicked off at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The two captains in Peter Handscomb and Peter Nevill met at the toss, as Peter Handscomb won the toss and sent NSW into the field.

 

The Victorian top order had a dodgy start, with Marcus Harris getting out for seven, falling LBW to Harry Conway. Travis Dean then retired hurt from being hit in the box in the ninth over. However, Nic Maddinson had two vital partnerships with Peter Handscomb and Matt Short to take the Victorians to 4/227. At the fall of the fourth wicket (which was Nic Maddinson), to the surprise of everyone Travis Dean came back out to bat after retiring earlier in the innings. He came out to bat with Seb Gotch and the two put on a 170-run partnership to take the Victorians to 4/397. In this case, the tail didn’t add to the score, as the Victorians declared at 7/431 as their first innings score. Highlights of the innings included Seb Gotch’s 100 not out and the two NSW off spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe taking five of the seven wickets.

 

The two NSW openers in Daniel Hughes and Nick Larkin got NSW off to a solid start with a 50-run partnership. Scott Boland dismissed Nick Larkin for 21 in the 18^th over, as soon after Daniel Hughes was also dismissed, leaving NSW at 2/63. The two in-form batsmen for NSW were Moises Henriques and Kurtis Patterson, who both put on a solid 100 run partnership. Later efforts from Daniel Solway and Harry Conway left NSW’s first innings score at 10/310, leaving them behind by 121 at the end of the first innings. Highlights of the NSW batting innings included Kurtis Patterson’s 54 and with the ball, debutant Wil Parker taking 3/54.

 

The second Victorian innings led to be a highly tactical declaration, with Victorian captain Peter Handscomb choosing to advise his top order to bat in a one day style to provide the team with quick runs to then bowl NSW out in the last day. Marcus Harris and Travis Dean strolled out to the middle with bat in hand and the NSW bowlers were fired up to get their team back into the game. That would be exactly what Harry Conway did, getting Travis Dean trapped in front LBW in the third over of the innings. Out came Nic Maddinson, strolling out as confident as ever with one job; to make runs. Marcus Harris was playing the late swing of Trent Copeland well, rotating the strike to get Nic Maddinson on strike. Nic Maddinson was on, scoring a 91 ball hundred, which is rarely seen in first class cricket. The Victorians declared at 1/168 giving NSW 289 runs to chase on the last day of the match.

 

It was the morning of the last day. NSW needed 289 runs and Victoria needed 10 wickets. The NSW openers set off for their big target with a good start – 0/40 after eight overs. That is, until Peter Siddle took the big wicket of Nick Larkin early in the ninth over, which sparked the collapse. Twelve overs later NSW were in a dangerous position at 5/81. A late fightback from Peter Nevill and Daniel Solway proved to not be enough as NSW were all out for 177, losing the match by 120 runs.

 

Highlights of the match included centuries from Seb Gotch and Nic Maddinson, as well as a valiant effort from the debutant Wil Parker with match figures of 4/89. The Vics celebrated with caution, understanding it was unlikely they would make finals at this stage.

 

 

 

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