Vics clinch thrilling win to secure Shield final berth

Tailenders Mitch Perry and Todd Murphy have clinched Victoria's place in the Marsh Sheffield Shield final with a nail-biting come from behind win against Tasmania.

In a thrilling see-sawing afternoon, fast bowler Perry (32no) and off-spinner Murphy (24no) put on an unbeaten 47 runs for the ninth wicket after the hosts were set 231 to win on a wearing Junction Oval pitch.

It was Murphy who sealed a memorable two-wicket victory with a cut shot to the boundary inside the final hour of day four after being dropped at short leg off the previous Ben Manenti delivery.

"It was nerve-racking, I won't lie there's times when I thought the game was gone especially when we were relying on young players (who) probably haven't even played 15 games in their career to try and get it done," Victoria coach Chris Rogers said after the win.

"But the fact that they did go and get it done in pretty tough conditions is just an incredible effort and a huge boost to our squad as well.

"It's two guys who actually don't face the bowlers that often in the nets, or even for their clubs, they're batting down at No.9 and No.10 at times, but we throw a lot of balls at them, they work really hard at their batting and to get the rewards is brilliant for them."

The pair came together at a perilous 8-187 still needing 44 runs to win after Will Sutherland, James Pattinson, Sam Harper and Nic Maddinson had fallen in quick succession.

Knowing they needed a result to keep their season alive, the Vics overturned a 21-run first innings deficit after skipper Peter Handscomb declared behind on day three before skittling the Tigers for 209.

It was Tasmania who gained the ascendency first on the final morning as Jordan Silk struck back-to-back boundaries to third-man to push the lead above 200, which included a glorious late drive off the face from a Mitch Perry yorker that raced away to the rope.

Debutant Manenti (23) also chipped in with two boundaries of his own during the morning session before Handscomb changed the momentum of the match with a sensational fielding effort.

First, the Victorian skipper snaffled an edged drive from Silk (42) at slip off Jon Holland (2-68), his eighth catch of the fixture, which handed him the outright record for the most in a single match by a non-wicketkeeper in the 129-year history of the Sheffield Shield.

He had nine catches five balls later when he flew across the Junction Oval turf and hauled in a firmly struck slog from Manenti, sealing his record-breaking feat with a screamer at midwicket off the bowling of Perry (4-31).

The 21-year-old seamer had his fourth – and his best first-class figures in his 14-game career – in his next over when a searing yorker broke through the defences of Jackson Bird, which completed Tasmania's second innings and gave Victoria 231 runs to win in 82 overs.

The host's openers Travis Dean and James Seymour carried Handscomb's energy with them when they walked out to bat and put Victoria in command with a first wicket stand of 74 in just 82 balls.

Dean, coming off 146 in the first innings, edged his first ball through slip for four – and his eighth to the same region – as the Vics went at 10 an over for the opening three overs from Bird and Peter Siddle.

The right-hander then latched onto a couple of short balls from Bird and Siddle and even employed a rare reverse sweep against Manenti, while Seymour also crunched three cut shots to the point boundary in one Manenti (3-89) over.

Bird ended the partnership just before lunch, bowling Dean for 47 (46), and when Seymour was trapped in front by Manenti after the break for 25, Victoria had lost 2-12.

Handscomb again seized the momentum with five boundaries in his 33 off 55 deliveries but when he was adjudged leg before to Siddle, Tasmania fought their way back into the contest.

Jake Fraser-McGurk (9) and Maddinson (23) both struck boundaries immediately before losing their wicket, Harper (8) drove loosely at a Tom Andrews (2-50) delivery and when Manenti had Pattinson (6) caught at slip, Victoria had slipped to 7-161 at tea still needing 70 runs to win with just three wickets remaining.

Sutherland (14) was also out shortly after tea to Siddle (2-46) but Murphy and Perry held their nerve over the next hour to get the hosts over the line and into the final with a game to spare.

It's the first result at the Junction Oval in six matches since the 2018-19 final and breaks a run of three consecutive draws for Victoria prior to this match.

If Victoria beat Western Australia at the WACA next week they will host the final at the Junction Oval, while it's season over for Tasmania who sit fifth on the Sheffield Shield table.