Boland takes five before thunderstorms deny Victoria against New South Wales
Victoria were two wickets away from a win that would take them to the top of the table, but the weather played spoilsport
AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Feb-2024
Lightning strikes the Sydney Cricket Ground on the last day of the game • Getty Images
New South Wales 252 (Edwards 99, Gilkes 51, Sutherland 5-51, Boland 3-47) and 116 for 8 (Konstas 35, Boland 5-41) drew with Victoria 454 for 6 dec (Pucovski 131, Handscomb 114, Maddinson 108, Lyon 5-153)
The thunderstorms that swept through Sydney on Monday denied Victoria an all-but certain Sheffield Shield victory over New South Wales with the home side eight down when play was suspended after Scott Boland had claimed five of them.
A win would have put Victoria on top of the Shield ladder, but the players left the field about noon and did not return, with NSW 116 for 8 and needing another 86 runs to make Victoria bat again.
Tasmania now have a massive home match against Victoria from March 1. NSW, who had turned their Shield campaign around with three wins from their previous four games, remain in the final hunt in fourth spot, behind Western Australia.
NSW resumed their second innings on 40 for 3 and Victoria snared five more wickets before rain forced an early lunch and ultimately ended the match.
Boland, who will head across to New Zealand for the Test series later this month, starred with 5 for 41 and took eight wickets for the match. On the final day he uprooted Moises Henriques' leg stump, had Ollie Davies taken at second slip and then found the edge of top-scorer Sam Konstas.
His Australian team-mate Nathan Lyon played a crucial innings for NSW to hold Victoria at bay before the weather intervened. Lyon faced 47 balls in tough conditions to make an unbeaten 17. Mitch Perry struck twice but it wasn't enough.
Despite going frustratingly close to a win and top spot, there was a significant highlight out of the match for Victoria. Will Pucovski returned to the Shield team and top-scored with 131 - his first ton in the competition since November 2020.