Gold Coast Dolphins lose gruelling match to Sunshine Coast despite Liam Hope-Shackley’s four wickets

Not even a Liam Hope-Shackley masterclass could prevent Gold Coast from falling to a gut-wrenching loss that all but spells the end of their Queensland Premier Cricket finals hopes.

NOT even a Liam Hope-Shackley masterclass could prevent Gold Coast from falling to a gut-wrenching loss that all but spells the end of their Queensland Premier Cricket finals hopes.

The Dolphins (248) entered day two of their match against the Sunshine Coast (commencing at 1-52) up at Elizabeth Daniels Park feeling slightly behind the game but that soon changed as Hope-Shackley and Trent Arnold combined for a devastating spell.

Trent Arnold. Picture: Richard Gosling

Hope-Shackley removed danger man Nick Selman for 35 and then contributed another two wickets in a collapse of 3-2 that left the hosts in tatters at 5-88.

From there, a hard toil eventuated with Sunshine Coast refusing to give up.

Angus Lovell anchored the innings with an unbeaten 100 from 237 balls in an outstanding display of patience and he found support from the entire lower-order, with batsmen seven to 10 all reaching double digits.

Sunshine Coast (8-251) ultimately passed the target late in the day with two wickets in hand.

Liam Hope-Shackley at the bowling crease. Picture: Mike Batterham

The loss, combined with fourth-placed Valleys scoring an outright win over Ipswich-Logan, is bad news for the Dolphins’ play-off chances.

Hope-Shackley was the pick of the bowlers with excellent figures of 4-39 off 24.1 overs, including 11 maidens.

The all-rounder had also top-scored with 63 in Gold Coast’s innings last Saturday.

Josh Kann, Arnold and Ben Davis each picked up a wicket during the day but it was not enough to salvage a much-needed win.