New South Wales Beat Western Australia to Reach Sheffield Shield Final
The match between New South Wales and Western Australia ended with a dramatic win of New South Wales by three wickets to secure the position in Sheffield Shield final.
The match was moving towards draw, when Ashton Agar finally took the key wicket of skipper, Steve Smith (89).
The dismissal put New South Wales in a serious crisis as they were 188 for the loss of 7 wickets, leaving tail-enders to tackle the last leg of the play.
NSW had to add 24 runs to win the match on the fourth day of the game.Earlier in the day, New South Wales started with 110 run to chase with 8 wickets in hand on the fourth day at Manuka Oval ground.
Steve Smith stood firmly to lead the game to victory, until he was dismissed by Agar, just before lunch.
Smith however placed some fantastic sixes in Agar's delivery. Ben Rohrer (15) and Kurtis Patterson (1) went back to pavilion after a silly dismissal, early in the morning.
Marcus North (3 for 61), part-time spinner for Warriors bowled well on the fourth day as he took Sean Abbott (4) followed by Peter Neville (3).
However, with Steve Smith and Stephen O'Keefe (31) on the ground, which looked like a strong partnership to go, till Agar destroyed the rhythm, taking Smith's wicket at a crucial juncture.
But O'Keefe and spinner Nathan Lyon (8) kept their cool to chase the remaining runs, leading NSW to victory.
After the match, Cricket Australia made a statement that Shaun Marsh and Nathan Lyon had been fined 20% of their match fee, following an incident that occurred during the second innings. The incident occurred when Lyon won an lbw call against Marsh from umpire Paul Wilson, who then changed his view and called back Marsh to crease.
On the other game between Victoria and Queensland in MSG, the match ended in a draw, which eventually placed Warriors and Blues in the final.
The final match will be held in Canberra.