Sheffield Shield 2024/25, Match 18 Tasmania vs South Australia, Day 4, Hobart Match Report, 6-9 December 2024


South Australia 398 for December 6 (Sangha 151, Hunt 136, Meredith 4-95) and 233 for December 9 (McInerney 75, Sangha 61, Kuhnemann 4-67) expired Tasmania 203 (Doran 51, Scott 3-30) and 426 (Ward 142, Hope 69, Weatherald 65, Silk 65, Agar 3-91, McAndrew 3-123) by two runs

South Australia have achieved one of the most remarkable victories in the 132-year history of the Sheffield Shield, beating Tasmania by two runs on the last ball of the match in Hobart.

Tasmania needed four runs from the last ball to successfully chase 429 and achieve a dramatic victory.

Riley Meredith hit the ball to deep cover where Ben Manenti fielded it, but he returned for a second, appearing to forget that a draw was a possible outcome and it was over after batting partner Lawrence Neil-Smith sent him back.
The last-ball wicket allowed South Australia to claim the closest Shield victory in terms of runs, in a match that lasted beyond 6pm on the final day. What makes the victory even more notable is the fact that Tasmania had looked on from the box to claim victory, before losing 4 for 4 in the last nine balls of the match.

The victory moved South Australia to the top of the table, while Tasmania is now in last place.

After Tim Ward’s 142 appeared to put the hosts in a position where they couldn’t lose the match, Mitch Owen and Brad Hope gave them a real chance of victory on Monday.
Owen scored 53 off 39 balls, while Hope scored 69 in a 72-run partnership that lasted just 10 overs. Hope eventually got caught on the boundary trying to hook Wes Agar, but with Owen shooting, the Tigers still looked like a chance.
Tasmania required 62 off nine overs, 44 off sixes and then seven off six balls after Owen hit Nathan McAndrew deep over the mid-wicket rope.

But when Owen was caught at long-on boundary a few balls later and Matt Kuhnemann got out on the first ball, South Australia got back into the game. With seven needed to go in the final over, Gabe Bell was bowled by Agar for a duck before the final ball madness ensued.

The early stages of the day were also full of drama, with Ward’s century being his first since his first Shield appearance in October 2021.

With Jake Weatherald and Jordan Silk hitting 65 each for the Tigers, Ward hit 16 boundaries in his knock, including a cracked cover shot off Agar to raise his ton.

But the left-hander was caught in one of the strangest moments of the match midway through the session. With Tasmania flying in the chase, South Australia resorted to short ball tactics to try and stem the momentum.

Like Alex Carey last July, South Africa’s wicketkeeper Harry Nielsen knocked over the stumps.

On this occasion, the appeal was denied and the arbitrators had apparently decided that it had been called.



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