South Australia 208 for 9 (Scott 47, Beardman 4-46) beat Western Australia 164 (Short 55, Turner 43, Scott 3-16) by 44 runs
The pitch used for this match had limited grass coverage and contrasted with the nearby green-tinged surface, which had just 763 deliveries bowled on it during South Australia’s six-wicket victory in the Shield.
Tall offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli also enjoyed the bounce and finished with 2 for 38 off 10 overs in his List A debut. It was a tonic for him after missing out on the tour of Sri Lanka.
“The wicket was fine, don’t think you can read [the low scores] too much into it…just one of those weeks,” said Rocchiccioli, who also said he’s eyeing playing in the UK during the off-season.
Chasing 209 was never going to be easy for WA, who had five of their top six batters looking to make amends after being part of the side that capitulated for 120 and 66 in the Shield.
Opener Sam Fanning did not have nightmares with his 49 in their first innings being the top score of that match. And his form continued as he drove well and attacked short-pitched bowling to dominate an opening stand of 40 with Jayden Goodwin.
But Turner almost out of nowhere on 43 was clean bowled by Scott in a misjudgement after he decided to let the ball go. WA’s slim hopes rested on Short, who notched the first half-century between the teams across the Shield-One-Day Cup double.
The task proved too difficult with Short holing out on 55 to effectively ice the match for South Australia.
Earlier, openers Henry Hunt and Mackenzie Harvey scored quickly against the new ball after the visitors were sent in to bat. There wasn’t the tennis ball bounce and prodigious sideways movement that was evident throughout the five sessions of the Shield.
South Australia slumped to 51 for 3 when Harvey fell to Rocchiccioli. With left-arm spinner Ashton Agar sidelined with a calf injury sustained in the ILT20, Rocchiccioli finally got his opportunity having been WA’s frontline spinner in the Shield in recent seasons.
Sangha had been the standout batter during the Shield match with 45 and 24 not out as his technique and application thwarted the minefield. He raced to 38 before throwing his wicket away out of nowhere after hitting a short and wide delivery from Morris straight down third man’s throat.
McSweeney had toiled to 28 before uncharacteristically losing patience and being stumped after missing a straighter Rocchiccioli delivery. South Australia appeared in danger of a score of under 150, but Scott held the backend together with 47 as they batted through the 50 overs.
South Australia, however, didn’t have a late flourish with Beardman completing an eye-catching performance with a further three wickets, including clean bowling Scott and Harry Matthias with piercing yorkers.
But they had more than enough on the board as their quicks went about once again tormenting WA’s beleaguered batters.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
