Victoria 265 (Short 88, Fraser-McGurk 54, Sams 5-46) beat New South Wales 259 (Henriques 98, Hughes 83, Siddle 3-40) by 6 runs
Victoria got a glimpse into the future with Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Will Sutherland starring to overcome New South Wales in a close contest at the MCG.
Short put together a Man-of-the-Match display, making a career-best 88 and taking 2 for 21 that included the key wicket of Daniel Hughes. Fraser-McGurk stole the show with 54 on debut after scoring 51 on his Shield debut earlier this week. Sutherland took two sensational outfield catches and bowled Moises Henriques for 98 in the penultimate over of the match to seal the game for Victoria as the Blues veteran was on track to see his side home.
The Blues were left to rue a game that slipped from their grasp. Daniel Sams‘ career-best 5 for 46 helped restrict Victoria. His mix of cutters undid Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, and Peter Handscomb. The Blues were 1 for 143 halfway through the chase with Hughes and Henriques in complete control. But Hughes’ dismissal, lbw to Short, triggered a collapse and Henriques ran out of support.
Short and Fraser-McGurk put together an outstanding 95-run stand to underpin their total of 265 after Victoria won the toss on a good surface. They came together with the side on 4 for 150 after veterans Marcus Harris (44) and Peter Handscomb (38) were unable to capitalise on fluent starts. Short played beautifully, attacking the spinners with positive footwork on the way to his fourth List A half-century.
But he was overshadowed by Fraser-McGurk. The 17-year-old made a stunning 54 from just 49 balls; four of his first five scoring shots were boundaries and in all, he struck seven fours and a six.
Short threw away a century holing out with more than seven overs remaining and Victoria were bowled out with four balls left in the final over of the innings.
Veteran seamer Peter Siddle showed his class taking the early wicket of Jack Edwards. But the game was slipping away from Victoria before Short turned it with two wickets in the middle overs. Siddle compounded the Blues pain by nabbing two more.
Henriques tried to manage the chase with the tail but aside from Sams’ 13, none of the last eight batsmen reached double figures. Sutherland took a sensational diving catch in the outfield to remove Sams and then backed it up by removing Henriques with a yorker to leave 12 runs needed from the final over. The final pair couldn’t get it done.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo