Last season's finalists South Australia and Queensland are locked in a fight to play Victoria in the Shield decider
Shield run home: Race narrows to three teams
An entertaining final round is on the cards in the Sheffield Shield after the race for the silverware narrowed to three teams.
South Australia and Queensland, last year's finalists, are now battling for the right to face Victoria in the Junction Oval decider. SA are 5.78 points clear in second but the Bulls could jump them with a win in the last regular-season round beginning Saturday.
The top two sides after 10 rounds qualify for the final to played from March 26-30. Here's a reminder on the scoring system.
Teams get six points for an outright win, one point for a draw, plus 0.01 of a bonus point for every run over 200 they score during the first 100 overs of their first innings (ie: 350 after 100 overs nets you 1.5 bonus points) and 0.1 of a bonus point for every wicket a team takes during the first 100 overs of their opponent's first innings (ie: 10 wickets before 100 first-innings overs elapses nets you 1 point).
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
| Team | M | W | L | D | N/R | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
VIC
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.68 | 8.3 | 57.98 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.56 | 8.6 | 42.16 |
|
3
QLD
|
9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8.18 | 7.2 | 36.38 |
|
4
NSW
|
9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.62 | 7.9 | 29.52 |
|
5
TAS
|
9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3.73 | 7.5 | 29.23 |
|
6
WA
|
9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.09 | 8.2 | 19.29 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
Below is a look at each state's remaining match and their potential path to the end-of-season decider.
Click here to see the Sheffield Shield fixtures
1. Victoria (57.98 points)
Most runs: Peter Handscomb and Sam Harper (640 each)
Most wickets: Sam Elliott (31)
Remaining match:
The runaway ladder leaders had already confirmed hosting rights for the decider with two matches to play. That they ploughed on with their seventh win of the season against Tasmania only underscored their dominance.
The most probable outcome is that they will now face second-placed South Australia at the Junction Oval in consecutive games; the first coming in the final home-and-away contest, the second in the ensuing week's final.
An eighth win for Will Sutherland's men however could open the door for Queensland to jump SA.
What could play into SA's favour however is the likelihood of the Vics managing their pace attack given their unassailable position on top of the standings. Fergus O'Neill shapes as a prime candidate to rest given he's played every game this season.
Beyond that, the biggest question for Victoria is which of their five in-form seamers they leave out for the final. Sutherland, O'Neill, Scott Boland, Sam Elliott and Mitch Perry are unlikely to all play in the same XI unless they drop spinner Todd Murphy.
2. South Australia (42.16 points)
Most runs: Jake Lehmann (543)
Most wickets: Nathan McAndrew (31)
Remaining match:
The reigning champions face a daunting task in their bid to go back-to-back for the first time; go toe-to-toe with Victoria twice in a row on their home patch.
A loss or a draw in the final regular season game at the Junction Oval will open the door for Queensland to clinch second spot and rob SA of the chance to defend their title.
The loss of Travis Head to the Indian Premier League leaves them without one of the best batters in the world, though they have hardly relied on the Test opener through their four-day renaissance under Ryan Harris.
Star paceman Brendan Doggett looms as a massive possible inclusion if they make the final, while Henry Thornton's recent return from injury was also important to their pace depth.
3. Queensland (36.38 points)
Most runs: Marnus Labuschagne (476)
Most wickets: Mitch Swepson (29)
Remaining match:
Queensland dodged a bullet thanks to a heavy downpour on day four of their round nine clash with Western Australia, having been 6-44 chasing 267 at Allan Border Field.
The draw gives them an important extra point in their pursuit of second spot. South Australia likely cannot rely on a draw now to stay there if the Bulls complete an outright win over Tasmania and claim 0.79 more bonus points than SA.
Hobart has typically been tough for batting on day one, so the toss could be important to allow Queensland the best chance of getting a solid amount of batting points.
The top-order trio of Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja is easily the most formidable in the competition and the Bulls will expect them to do some heavy lifting against Tasmania.
The return of Michael Neser will also be vital if they hope to lock in a second consecutive Shield final appearance.
4. NSW (29.52 points)
Most runs: Sam Konstas (591)
Most wickets: Liam Hatcher (37)
Remaining matches:
The Blues effectively had their season ended in their nine-wicket defeat to SA, meaning outgoing coach Greg Shipperd's final match at the helm will be a dead-rubber against bottom-placed Western Australia.
The highest NSW can finish is third and the side's attention will instead be squarely focused on this week's 50-over One-Day Cup decider against Tasmania.
5. Tasmania (29.23 points)
Most runs: Tim Ward (573)
Most wickets: Gabe Bell (32)
Remaining matches:
A second straight second-from-bottom finish looms for the Tigers unless they can knock over Queensland at Bellerive Oval this week having also seen their four-day season ended in the penultimate round.
Tasmania have struggled for first-innings runs this season and their all-out 91 against Victoria sealed their fate. Their focus will also shift to securing some one-day silverware, having not won the men's 50-overs competition since 2009-10, before they hope to play spoil sports for Queensland in their last Shield fixture.
6. Western Australia (19.29points)
Most runs: Cameron Bancroft (608)
Most wickets: Cameron Gannon (38)
Remaining matches:
Western Australia look certain to snatch the wooden spoon for a second consecutive season, the first time in their Sheffield Shield history they will have finished bottom two seasons in a row.
Their hopes of at least limping over Tasmania into fifth were put to bed in unfortunate circumstances, with Sunday's rain in Brisbane curtailing what would likely have been their second victory of the season.
On the bright side, Cameron Green is expected to return for the state's final match of the season, the dead-rubber against the Blues at Cricket Central, before he jets off to the IPL, though Josh Inglis will not feature in round 10.
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
| Team | M | W | L | D | N/R | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
VIC
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.68 | 8.3 | 57.98 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.56 | 8.6 | 42.16 |
|
3
QLD
|
9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8.18 | 7.2 | 36.38 |
|
4
NSW
|
9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.62 | 7.9 | 29.52 |
|
5
TAS
|
9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3.73 | 7.5 | 29.23 |
|
6
WA
|
9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.09 | 8.2 | 19.29 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points