Sheffield Shield: South Australia claims thrilling win over Tasmania

An inexplicable decision from a Tasmanian tailender has handed South Australia a Sheffield Shield win after a final-day classic in Hobart.

A horror brain fade by Tasmanian tailender Riley Meredith handed South Australia a two-run win on the final ball of a remarkable final day of Sheffield Shield cricket at Bellerive Oval.

With four needed from the last delivery to complete a mountainous 429-run chase, Meredith played a full delivery from Wes Agar into the covers and could only complete a single, before he turned back for a second run to the surprise of teammate Lawrence Neil-Smith.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT 🤯

South Australia win on the final delivery after Tasmania have a mix up in the middle #SheffieldShield

Watch the final over: https://t.co/PgYbmiZl5Kpic.twitter.com/F5ZrBl2iYe

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 9, 2024

Meredith was halfway down the pitch when Redbacks captain Ben Manenti eased a throw in to Agar at the nonstrikers end to claim the 10th wicket and send South Australia to the top of the Shield table after six rounds.

The fast bowler’s Hobart Hurricanes teammate Paddy Dooley was dumbfounded on the commentary after he gave away what would have been a draw.

“Poor old Riley Meredith, I think he was in Big Bash mode there, thinking, ‘let’s get as many runs as possible’,” Dooley said on Kayo.

Tim Ward’s resurgence continued with 142, but it wasn’t enough to take Tasmania to a remarkable fourth innings victory over South Australia as they fell two runs short. Picture: Steve Bell / Getty Images

It came after Tasmania had 10 minutes earlier looked likely to pull off a stunning chase and hand the Redbacks an embarrassing defeat after declaring in both innings.

Opener Tim Ward continued his blistering form to compile a second first-class century, posting 142 to follow his scores of 51, 92, 96 and 7 since his Shield recall last month.

The required run rate ballooned out to 6.5 as Ward and Brad Hope (69 off 116) played cautiously against a disciplined Redbacks attack, but Ward fell at 5-328 with 101 runs needed from 86 balls.

Mitch Owen (53 off 39) played bravely to reduce the equation to nine from 10 balls, belting Nathan McAndrew over the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his half-century.

But a slower ball full toss from McAndrew brought Owen unstuck two balls later, before the Australia A quick had Matt Kuhnemann also removed for a golden duck.

Coming around the wicket to the right-hander, Agar bowled Gabe Bell and managed to prevent a boundary in a composed final over to leave four needed off the final ball.

NSW captain Jack Edwards (left) gets airborne in celebration after dismissing Josh Inglis (right) for 25 in the second innings. Picture: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images

New South Wales’ selection of Jack Edwards as a frontline quick paid off in spades as the acting captain claimed a 10-wicket match haul to complete the Blues’ innings rout of Western Australia at the SCG.

Edwards claimed the crucial wicket of Josh Inglis for 25 before he ripped through the WA tail in a collapse of 6-20 to secure the innings and 68 runs victory.

He claimed identical figures of 5-41 in both innings as Tanveer Sangha (2-67 off 33 overs) worked over Cameron Bancroft (48) and Hilton Cartwright (44) to pave the way for the collapse after rain delays had brought the clash down to the wire.

Inglis, who was snuck into the WA squad after flying into Sydney from the Australian Test camp the night before the game, finished with scores of 41 and 25 before he was expected to rejoin the national side in Brisbane.