Peake fights for fifty as rain halts Vics, SA clash

Oliver Peake registered his fourth first-class half-century on a rain-interrupted day three in Victoria's top-of-the-table Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia at Junction Oval.

Alongside his captain Will Sutherland (51), 19-year-old Peake (59) put together a 101-run sixth-wicket partnership to help the Vics score 308, giving them a slender three-run first innings lead over the reigning champions.

Having cemented their place in a second consecutive Shield final on Sunday, SA reached 0-27 before rain ended the day's play with just 28.3 overs bowled on Monday.

SA's round 10 clash with Victoria has become a dress rehearsal for the final beginning on March 26 at the same venue after they earned more first innings bonus points than Queensland did in their clash with Tasmania in Hobart, extending their advantage over the Bulls to 6.43 points, which is more than the six points they're able to obtain for an outright win.

Playing in his first Shield fixture since being hit on the helmet in Perth last month, the left-handed Peake faced 209 balls in a gritty innings that included just the five boundaries.

Peake's knock marks the second time he's passed 50 against South Australia this season. He scored 70 not out in the second innings to guide Victoria to a four-wicket season-opening win over SA at the Adelaide Oval in October.

Victoria started day three at 5-266 but only 14 balls were bowled before the teams left the field for the first of three rain delays throughout the day.

When play recommenced 80 minutes later, Sutherland brought up his second half-century of the season. Shortly after, Peake achieved the same feat with a lovely off-drive down the ground off Nathan McAndrew (1-54).

The SA spearhead sent down a single three-over spell for the day in a sign the state may be managing his workload ahead of the season decider later this month.

Liam Scott (2-34) dismissed Sutherland after the right-hander picked out his opposite number, SA skipper Nathan McSweeney at cover.

Mitch Perry (6) fell in the same fashion, as Sam Elliott (7) and Peake took the Vics to lunch at 7-298, with play then delayed again for 30 minutes after the break as more rain arrived in Melbourne.

Peake then fell to Ben Manenti (2-76) on the fourth ball after the resumption as McSweeney took his third catch of the day, this time at slip.

McSweeney (3-18) removed Todd Murphy (4), before a reverse sweep from Elliott off Manenti pushed the Vics past SA's first innings total. But the Victorian quick was out in the next over, when McSweeney claimed another catch, this time off his own bowling to finish the innings.

South Australia opener Mackenzie Harvey (20 not out) was troubled early in his innings by Perry (0-18) and Boland (0-4), but the flashy left-hander found some fluency with four boundaries before the rain settled in and brought an early end to day three at Junction Oval.

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	10	7	2	1	0	0	8.56	9.3	60.86
2 South Australia Men SA	10	4	2	4	0	0	7.61	9.2	44.81
3 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	3	4	3	0	0	8.18	8.2	37.38
4 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	4	4	2	0	2	3.73	8.5	36.23
5 NSW Men NSW	10	2	4	4	0	0	6.94	8.6	31.54
6 Western Australia Men WA	10	1	5	4	0	0	2.95	9.2	22.15

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