Late Morris burst evens up intriguing contest

Jackson Bird was a whisker away from a Sheffield Shield hat-trick as NSW and three-time defending champions Western Australia traded day one blows in Perth.

Sent in at the WACA ground, the hosts were bowled out for 196 on Thursday as the season's leading wicket-taker Bird finished with 3-22 off 15.5 overs.

The Blues stumbled to stumps at 3-17 though, with Sam Konstas (6), Nic Maddinson (4) and nightwatchman Ryan Hadley (1) all out as Lance Morris (2-2 off three overs) bowled with serious pace.

Morris was held back until the ninth over of the innings, but bounced out Maddinson and was too quick for Hadley as WA finished with a wet sail. 

Earlier, former Test quick Bird was cruelly denied a hat-trick, with Cameron Gannon chopping a ball back perilously close to his leg stump after Bird had dismissed Ashton Turner and Joel Paris.

Bird, who turns 39 in December, played the most recent of his nine Tests in 2017.

He went wicketless in the Shield season opener last year but has bulldozed through batting line-ups in his six games since with a Shield-leading 33 wickets at an average of 13.36.

The home side were 7-139 before Gannon's (19) useful contribution alongside Joel Curtis (42) added to Turner's (42) good work.

WA are gunning to become the first team to win four-straight Shield titles since the advent of the six-team era with Tasmania's admission in 1977.

And the regular season's penultimate round is essentially a must-win for both teams if they are to finish in the top two and reach the final.

Only 0.24 points separate the Blues and Warriors in second and third, with six points on the line for a win and all six teams still able to finish in the top two.

The hosts started solidly thanks to Cam Bancroft (22) and captain Sam Whiteman (25).

But Blues skipper Jack Edwards (2-49) chipped away and was rewarded, with Ryan Hadley (2-21) backing him up as the Warriors fell from 0-43 to 5-99.

The visitors were unable to capitalise, however. Konstas mistimed a straight drive to be caught at short mid-off before Maddinson was caught behind trying to hook.

Hadley was no match for Morris, pinned on the crease after being driven back by a series of menacing short balls. NSW then made the unusual decision of sending out a second nightwatchman in Liam Hatcher to see out the final over. 

Both teams will likely hunt a result, given a draw would almost certainly leave them needing other final-round results to go their way to qualify for the final.

Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 South Australia Men SA	10	6	1	3	0	0	7.61	9	55.61
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	3	3	4	0	0	9.06	8.7	39.76
3 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	5	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	39.49
4 NSW Men NSW	10	3	4	3	0	0	6.99	8.4	36.39
5 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	3	5	2	0	0	7.72	8.2	35.92
6 Western Australia Men WA	10	3	4	3	0	0	5.83	8.6	35.43

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points