Sheffield Shield: Marcus Harris scores 174 as Victoria beat Queensland

A huge century from Test opener Marcus Harris has propelled Victoria to a remarkable Sheffield Shield win over Queensland as the home team chased down 300 on the final day at the Junction Oval.

Marcus Harris celebrates bringing up his century against Queensland. Picture: Getty Images

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A huge century from Test opener Marcus Harris has propelled Victoria to a remarkable Sheffield Shield win over Queensland as the home team chased down 300 on the final day at the Junction Oval.

After falling five runs short of a hundred in the opening innings, Harris pummeled 174 in the second and, thanks to a 182-run partnership with Matt Short (60), guided the Vics to what had seemed an improbable victory and secured them top spot on the table.

Amid questions about his Ashes credentials, after three lows scores in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Harris, who was Australia’s leading run scorer in the series loss to India, was imperious against the Bulls.

He was out with just eight runs to get, but finished the game with 269 runs and in the process went past Matthew Wade to become the leading run-scorer in the Shield this season, with 767 runs at an average of 95.87.

Victoria’s Marcus Harris on his way to scoring 174 against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield on Tuesday. Picture: AAP

Harris outscored fellow Test opener Joe Burns, who registered 60 and 80 but couldn’t reach his first Shield hundred of the season on a day to forget for Queensland.

The Vics were 97 runs behind after the first innings and the Bulls resumed the final day of the game at 1-135 and in a strong position.

But what followed was a day of questionable work from the visitors, with both bat and ball. Queensland lost 5-9 in the morning session as the batsmen tried to slog their way to an unreachable score.

They set the Vics exactly 300 with a declaration before lunch and when the home team was 4-110, the Bulls looked best placed to win.

Marcus Harris celebrates bringing up his century against Queensland. Picture: Getty Images

But Harris continued to score at a rapid pace, and while his partner Short started like a snail, scoring just 10 runs in his first 65 balls, he picked up the pace as the afternoon went on.

Then as the run chase intensified late in the day, and Queensland was in need of wickets, captain Jimmy Pearson persisted with bowling part-timers Marnus Labuschange and Matt Renshaw.

Between the two spinners conceded 53 runs off just eight overs, which included two huge sixes from Short who caught up after his slow start.

The run-chase wasn’t without late drama. After Harris went out, Short went with just three runs needed for victory, and Chris Tremain followed two balls later, both out to Mitchell Swepson.

But after two scoreless overs Seb Gotch swatted Swepson for six to seal the three-wicket win.

Scoreboard from Victoria v Queensland at Junction Oval

Queensland 1st Innings

M RENSHAW c Tremain b Holland 29 (79)

J BURNS c White b Boland 60 (86)

M LABUSCHAGNE c Harris b Short 59 (111)

C HEMPHREY c Gotch b Siddle 93 (218)

S HEAZLETT c Short b Tremain 46 (78)

J PEIRSON lbw Tremain 24 (69)

M NESER not out 75 (87)

C GANNON lbw Siddle 4 (16)

M STEKETEE c Maddinson b Holland 9 (33)

M SWEPSON run out (Siddle) 15 (17)

L FELDMAN c & b Tremain 11 (16)

Sundries (1b 6lb 7w 2nb) 16

Total 441

Fall: 67 (Renshaw), 110 (Burns), 200 (Labuschagne), 278 (Heazlett), 322 (Peirson), 334 (Hemphrey), 352 (Gannon), 374 (Steketee), 395 (Swepson), 441 (Feldman).

Bowling: P Siddle 32-6-101-2 (2w 1nb), C Tremain 30.4-5-93-3, S Boland 33-7-83-1 (1w 1nb), J Holland 34-2-120-2, M Short 5-0-37-1.

Overs: 134.4.

Victoria 1st Innings

T DEAN c Burns b Neser 26 (57)

M HARRIS c Peirson b Swepson 95 (155)

W PUCOVSKI c Peirson b Steketee 22 (33)

N MADDINSON c Peirson b Gannon 108 (169)

S BOLAND c Swepson b Steketee 3 (25)

C WHITE c Heazlett b Neser 9 (25)

M SHORT b Steketee 21 (80)

S GOTCH c Labuschagne b Swepson 15 (56)

C TREMAIN lbw Swepson 11 (28)

P SIDDLE c Gannon b Swepson 7 (19)

J HOLLAND not out 16 (19) Sundries (4b 1lb 2w 4nb) 11

Total 344

Fall: 49 (Dean), 105 (Pucovski), 183 (Harris), 197 (Boland), 215 (White), 278 (Short), 294 (Maddinson), 312 (Tremain), 317 (Gotch), 344 (Siddle).

Bowling: M Neser 22-5-64-2 (1nb), M Steketee 22-4-61-3 (3nb), C Gannon 21-6-67-1 (1w), L Feldman 17-4-54-0 (1w), M Swepson 23.2-3-76-4, M Labuschagne 5-0-17-0.

Overs: 110.2.

Queensland 2nd Innings

M RENSHAW c Siddle b Holland 47 (84)

J BURNS b Holland 80 (138)

M LABUSCHAGNE st Gotch b Holland 36 (56)

S HEAZLETT c Harris b Tremain 0 (5)

J PEIRSON b Tremain 1 (6)

C HEMPHREY b Holland 1 (5)

M NESER not out 18 (13)

C GANNON b Holland 2 (4)

Sundries (7b 9lb 1nb) 17

Seven wickets (dec) for 202

Fall: 100 (Renshaw), 173 (Burns), 176 (Heazlett), 178 (Labuschagne), 180 (Peirson), 182 (Hemphrey), 202 (Gannon).

Bowling: P Siddle 13-0-50-0, C Tremain 11-1-39-2, S Boland 7-0-25-0 (1nb), J Holland 20.4-2-72-5.

Overs: 51.4.

Victoria 2nd Innings

T DEAN c Swepson b Neser 0 (5)

M HARRIS c Labuschagne b Swepson 174 (197)

W PUCOVSKI lbw Steketee 11 (28)

N MADDINSON c Labuschagne b Swepson 29 (45)

C WHITE c Labuschagne b Feldman 2 (13)

M SHORT c Heazlett b Swepson 60 (134)

S GOTCH not out 11 (12)

C TREMAIN b Swepson 0 (2)

P SIDDLE not out 0 (5) Sundries (7b 8lb 1w 1nb) 17

Seven wickets for 304

Fall: 0 (Dean), 27 (Pucovski), 97 (Maddinson), 110 (White), 292 (Harris), 297 (Short), 297 (Tremain).

Bowling: M Neser 11-3-40-1, M Steketee 15-4-57-1 (1w), M Swepson 24.2-1-107-4 (1nb), L Feldman 5-3-8-1, C Gannon 8-2-23-0, M Labuschagne 7-1-37-0, M Renshaw 3-0-17-0.

Overs: 73.2.

Umpires: Simon Fry, Shaun Haig.

Match Referee: Bob Parry.

Result: Victoria won by 3 wickets Man of the Match: Marcus Harris Points: Vic 7.47 Qld 1.82