Bulls close gap with Vic debutant's valiant holdout not enough

Queensland have closed the gap on runaway Sheffield Shield leaders Victoria after overcoming debutant Dylan Brasher's valiant fourth-innings holdout on the final morning of the MCG Sheffield Shield contest.

Brasher (72 off 218 balls) was the last man out in the Vics' failed pursuit of 242, giving impressive young paceman Tom Straker (3-43 and 4-32) his seventh wicket for the match. The first-gamer's carving cover drive found the hands of winning captain Marnus Labuschagne to hand the Bulls a 36-run victory in day four's opening session.

It was only the second defeat in seven Shield games for Victoria this season. Both their losses have come against second-placed Queensland, winning their other five matches.

With Peter Handscomb's men still on top of the standings, another Victoria-Queensland clash shapes as this season's most likely Sheffield Shield final pairing.  

Brasher, the Footscray product who won a first-class debut this week after leading the Premier Cricket run charts this season, staked his claim for a permanent spot with last-ditch 72.

The 24-year-old left-hander carried the drinks for Australia during the Boxing Day Test and admitted it was a "surreal" experience to make his debut at the same ground weeks later.

"Obviously super proud and to do it out here was awesome, but 30 or 40 short in the end isn't ideal, so not really sure how to feel at the moment," said Brasher.

"Even walking out on the first day. There was decent crowd here, and obviously had a lot of family and friends (watching).

"I probably let the emotion get to me a little bit in the first day – it was pretty tough not to – but I felt pretty calm out there and pretty settled. It helps making your debut at 24, you kind of get to learn a few things and thought my game was in a pretty good spot.

"It was nice to get a few, but a few more would have been nice."

As the last recognised batter heading into Sunday, the Brasher shaped as the final-day key for the hosts, who were 6-150 overnight still needing another 92 runs to win.

After Mitch Perry's 27 helped recover Victoria from 5-88 the previous day, Fergus O'Neill (24) and Todd Murphy (15) offered some more lower-order resistance. But Mitchell Swepson (3-55) took two wickets before the second new ball became available, exposing Victoria's tail to Test paceman Michael Neser and his sidekick Straker.

Neser clean bowled Murphy after the spinner lifted him for a towering six over mid-wicket, before Brasher succumbed at the other end - but not before reaching the highest score of the match and facing more balls (218) than anyone from either side.

Queensland's third win of the season puts them some distance ahead of the chasing pack in second on 33.38 points, even if rain clears in Sydney today and New South Wales claim an outright victory.

Bulls coach Johan Botha praised player of the match Hugo Burdon, who made 43 in each innings to set-up the victory, while he also lauded Straker after the right-armer took his match figures in his 10th first-class appearance.

"Very happy with  the overall performance. Victoria have been the  top team this summer in Shield cricket, so we had to try and keep them close," said Botha.

"'Strakes' has been good for us. He hasn't quite picked up the big wickets in his first nine or 10 Shield games, and I'm glad he did today and during this game.

"We can see his quality and what he brings to the team. He's sort of been chipping away at it … I'm really happy for him that he got what he deserved in this game.

"Hopefully that will settle him down now for the rest of his Shield career, I would hope."

Victoria remain well ahead on the standings on 42.17 points and could win back the services of captain Will Sutherland as well as other first-choice players Scott Boland, Ollie Peake, Matthew Short and Marcus Harris for the back part of the season.

Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings

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 Victoria Men VIC	7	5	2	0	0	0	5.87	6.3	42.17
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	7	3	2	2	0	0	8.18	5.2	33.38
3 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	7	3	3	1	0	2	3.73	6	26.73
4 South Australia Men SA	7	2	2	3	0	0	4.69	6.6	26.29
5 NSW Men NSW	7	2	3	2	0	0	4.67	5.9	24.57
6 Western Australia Men WA	7	1	4	2	0	0	1.61	6.5	16.11

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