Sam Harper smashed two sixes to get Victoria out of trouble in a Sheffield Shield win

Last month he had to sit in a darkened room as he battled the effects of concussion, but Sam Harper was in control in a big innings in Melbourne.

Just a month after being sent to hospital after a shocking nets accident that rocked his teammates, Sam Harper slogged his way to a crucial win for Victoria after an early day four batting collapse.

South Australian captain Jake Lehmann labelled the pitch at the Junction Oval “horrendous” after a final day rally left them three runs short of victory following Harper’s heroics.

Harper was knocked unconscious and left severely concussed when he hit a ball into his chin while practising a ramp shot during the Big Bash on January 5, with the effects so serious he missed the remainder of the competition.

Having spent time in a darkened room and being driven around by his wife, the 27-year-old, who has a history of concussions and once spent weeks in an Adelaide hospital after a heavy blow, returned to training late last month.

The Shield match against South Australia was his first since the incident and he brought all his Big Bash skills to a small but tricky run chase for the home team.

Victoria started the final day on 2-56 in their pursuit of 157 for victory. SA’s bowlers made significant early impact and at 6-101 the result was in the balance on a wearing wicket providing amble help for the visiting attack.

But then Harper looked to put the game to bed quickly, mounting a counter-attack and whacking two sixes in a 27-ball innings of 34 to get his team to within six runs of victory when he was dismissed.

Sam Harper launches one out of CitiPower Centre, as the Vics edge towards their victory target#SheffieldShieldpic.twitter.com/s7rEMYuify

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 6, 2024

Rising star Campbell Kellaway proved his team’s rock, unbeaten on 35 while lasting 101 balls in a match-winning effort, as Victoria reached the target seven wickets down.

The Redbacks weren’t helped by bowler Liam Scott rolling his ankle on the boundary rope as he watched one of Harper’s sixes go over.

Harper’s second six sent umpires scurrying for a new ball after he whacked it out of the Junction Oval and into an adjacent park.

The win was Victoria’s fourth for the season form seven games, keeping them in the hunt for the Sheffield Shield final. Tasmania has also recorded four wins, while the Redbacks have won just twice.

Victorian captain Peter Handscomb, who took charge with Will Sutherland in the Australian ODI squad, conceded “everyone found it tough on the wicket”, with only Nic Maddinson, who made a first-innings hundred, reaching three figures in the match.

IN PERTH THE NSW Blues knocked Western Australia down a peg on the Shield table with a four-wicket win after a mid-innings wobble as player of the match Chris Green slapped two sixes to finish their run chase in style.

After taking six-second innings wickets to help secure his team a chase of 181 to record a much-needed away win, Green was there at the end after NSW slumped to 5-106, steadying the ship with youngster Ollie davies who was not out 24 when the winning runs were hit.

It was a third win from seven games for NSW while the defeat dropped WA out of the top wo on the table in their quest for a third-straight Shield title.