Sheffield Shield 2024/25 SOA v VIC 9th Match Match Report 1-04 Nov 2024

South Australia 307 (Hunt 62, Scott 53) and 270 for 8 (Manenty 62*, Lehmann 60, Siddle 4-63) Victoria 232 (Harper 89, Manenti 5–73, Conway 4–39) and 207 (Kellaway 80, Chandrasinghe 52, Pope 6–74)

Lloyd Pope led South Australia to their first Sheffield Shield victory over Victoria in nine years, taking six wickets to seal victory with 16 minutes remaining.

In a thrilling and somewhat controversial final at Adelaide Oval, Pope took 6 for 74 to force Victoria to be all out for 207 in pursuit of an unlikely target of 346.

Pope took four wickets in 13 minutes to win the match, after Victoria looked likely to claim a draw with four wickets in hand and 30 minutes left in the match.

The win was South Australia’s first against Victoria since the 2015–16 season, with both teams having played 18 games since then.

But the finale was not without drama: Victoria Campbell Kellaway stood out on the bat pad amid a flurry of late wickets. Kellaway appeared confused by the call, with replays suggesting the ball may have come off the plate and missed the bat on its way to the fielder.

From that point on, it seemed inevitable that Pope would lead South Australia to victory, before he ended the match by trapping Cameron McClure lbw trying to leave the ball.

Pope’s performance was the third five-wicket haul of his Sheffield Shield career and the first in four years since he burst onto the scene as a cult hero at the 2017 Under-19 World Cup.

Pope always looked the most threatening of South Australia’s bowlers on the deteriorating wicket of the fourth day. The leg-spinner was the only bowler to threaten Victoria’s batters in the first session, with Ashley Chandrasinghe and Kellaway preparing well.

Henry Thornton eventually got the breakthrough midway through the session when he caught Chandrasinghe at slip with a fast-rising ball. And although Thornton also sent off Tom Rogers shortly afterwards, it was Pope who always looked most likely to take control of the game.

He caught Peter Handscomb superbly as man of the match. Ben Manenti missed first for 8, then pulled Sam Harper’s back foot out of the crease to strand him for 5.

And after Mitchell Perry chewed up 80 in Kellaway’s 25-ball partnership, it was Pope who got the crucial wicket in the final hour.

The 24-year-old hit the ball over the left-hander’s stump to remove Perry for 9 as the number eight returned to bat. Kellaway’s wicket came in Pope’s next over before he caught Peter Siddle at slip, leaving Victoria nine wickets behind.

And when number 11 McClure failed to hit a ball that went straight, Pope ensured South Australia remained second in the standings with a rare victory over their old rivals.