Bancroft fails again but Western Australia survive scare to take victory

Western Australia 332 (Inglis 101, Cartwright 65, Connolly 55) and 83 for 4 (Cartwright 39*) beat Tasmania 277 (Owen 69, Doran 66, Rocchiccioli 4-70) and 137 (Couch 4-50) by six wickets

With WA chasing just 83 runs under sunny conditions early on the final day, Bancroft had a golden opportunity for a confidence boosting innings having scored just eight runs in his first three Shield innings.

But he looked uncomfortable from the get go against probing new ball bowling from quicks Riley Meredith and Kieran Elliott. With the pressure building having scored just two runs from his first 15 deliveries, Bancroft decided to attack but miscued a pull shot off Meredith to fine leg and trudged off with his Test hopes to fill the vacant opener’s slot having seemingly nosedived.

“He’s pretty good to be honest…keeping things really simple,” WA captain Sam Whiteman said of Bancroft. “I think it’s a matter of time. Each fail…he’s one closer to a big score. He’s a pretty positive guy.”

The low target proved tricky for WA and the tension heightened among the sprinkling of fans when they slumped to 18 for 4 after Whiteman, Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Hardie fell to Elliott, who conjured movement from the grassy wicket.

It was a quiet match for Marsh, who had scores of 9 and 6 as a specialist batter at No. 4. He had stated ahead of the match that he would build up his bowling loads, but a return with the ball has been put on hold.

Inglis and Cartwright steadied the ship with a quick half-century partnership to guide WA over the line. Having scored two game-changing centuries to start the season, Inglis again looked at ease to finish 26 not out from 36 balls.

Cartwright remained unbeaten on 39 from 50 balls to cap a remarkable match after he had to dash from the ground at tea on day two when his wife went into labour. He returned on day three to resume his innings on 52 after the birth of his second child in the early hours. Cartwright needed Tasmania to agree for him to return to the crease.

There appeared to be tension on the field on day four with Cartwright engaged in a war of words with Tasmania opener Jake Weatherald. They had a lengthy exchange while shaking hands after the match.

Tasmania started day four in a forlorn position with a lead of just 80 runs and one wicket in hand. They only added two runs before quick Brody Couch claimed his fourth wicket of the innings after trapping Meredith in front of the crease

After a patchy performance in his WA debut against Queensland, Couch was outstanding throughout to finish with match figures of 7 for 83 and touching speeds of 143kph.

Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth