Victoria’s 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, Queensland was dismissed for 158 with Sutherland (4-32 off 19 overs) and Boland (4-49) proving crucial. Victoria’s second win of the season lifts them into fourth spot, with Queensland now last. Victoria started the day at 156 for 6 in their second innings, adding 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, as Burns scored 9 off 55 balls before edging Boland behind. Sutherland made up for the earlier miss by snaring the scalps of Bryce Street (46 off 134 balls) and Jack Clayton to reduce Queensland to 86 for 4. He then took a catch to his left at slip to remove Usman Khawaja. Sutherland, who scored 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. But their hopes of salvaging a draw were dashed 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.”
