Victoria 300 on 7 December (Harris 73, Handscombe 66, Wildermuth 3-49) and 190 on 9 December (Sutherland 66, Guthrie 6-60) they won. Queensland 219 (Wildermuth 40, Boland 4-47) and 158 (46th Street, Sutherland 4-32, Boland 4-49), a difference of 113 points.
Chasing 272 for victory in 87 overs, Queensland were bowled out for 158 in 81.5 overs late on the final day, with Sutherland (4-32 from 19 overs) and Boland (4-49) proving their importance.
Victoria’s second win of the season moves them up to fourth place, with Queensland now in last place.
“The team did really well, probably one of the best wins I’ve had,” Sutherland said. “Incredible effort from the boys.”
Victoria started the day at 156 for 6 in the second over, adding 34 in seven overs before declaring at 190 for 9.
Matt Renshaw was the first to fall for Queensland when he edged Boland to Sutherland at first slip. Joe Burns should have been dismissed off the next ball, but Sutherland missed a difficult catch at slip.
The dropped catch proved costly – not for the number of runs Burns scored, but for the amount of time he was able to chew. Burns scored 9 off 55 balls before he edged Boland, 22 balls after his first down.
Sutherland made up for that earlier loss by catching the scalps of Price Street (46 off 134 balls) and Jack Clayton to reduce Queensland to 86 for 4.
It’s not over yet. The 24-year-old got it low and to his left at slip off Boland’s bowling to remove the dangerous Usman Khawaja.
Sutherland, who scored a crucial 66 with the bat in Victoria’s second innings, then trapped Jimmy Pearson lbw for 16. He took his fourth wicket when James Paisley trailed by one – with Peter Handscombe’s stumble at second slip caught 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 the tie were dashed in the blink of an eye when Fergus O’Neill dismissed Gurinder Sandhu and Mitchell Swepson in successive balls, sparking wild celebrations.
“It’s never good to lose a match,” Queensland captain Khawaja said. “We were probably never in contention to win the game. But credit to Victoria, they played the game really well. I think they declared at really good times, they let the game go. They deserved to win.”
