WA fell short of a fourth-straight Shield final despite Cooper Connolly’s late heroics
Tristan Lavalette18-Mar-2025Finishing his first-class career in style, quick Peter Siddle snuffed out Cooper Connolly’s late heroics and also claimed the final wicket as Victoria ended Western Australia’s dreams of a historic fourth straight Sheffield Shield title in dramatic fashion at the WACA.Victoria’s eventual 34-run victory was essentially sealed when Campbell Kellaway, who scored the match’s only century, took an absolute blinder of a one-handed catch at fine leg to dismiss Cameron Gannon in the shadows.Siddle, who finished with 792 wickets from 231 first-class matches, sealed the win with 16 balls left when he dismissed Corey Rocchiccioli before receiving a guard of honour from both teams after the match.”Definitely an incredible career, still trying to convince him to go around again next season,” Victoria captain Will Sutherland said of Siddle, who finished his 19-year first-class career with 4 for 68 off 17.2 overs.It was a consolation win for Victoria, whose slim chances of reaching the final ended when Queensland drew their match against South Australia. Victoria were top of the ladder at the midpoint of the season before four straight defeats proved costly.The result means South Australia will host Queensland in the final at Karen Rolton Oval starting on March 26.”We’ve only got ourselves to blame,” Sutherland said. “In saying that, we did win four games and Queensland three and they’ve somehow made the final, which is interesting and confusing with the bonus points. But there were two games we should have won.”Will Sutherland was among the wickets•Getty Images
Needing 382 off 84 overs, WA fought hard but were always up against it, even though the surface had flattened out as the match wore on. With New South Wales having lost to Tasmania, WA were unable to secure the victory needed to leapfrog past Queensland and qualify for the final.In his return to Shield cricket after making his Test debut in Sri Lanka and playing in the Champions Trophy, Connolly lived up to the billing as WA’s talisman with 56.He had shared a 107-run partnership with Hilton Cartwright, who top-scored with 79, to lift WA to 233 for 4 and a sniff of victory but they ultimately fell short.”It’s obviously disappointing. It’s been a frustrating year for the group and we will no doubt reflect over the next few months,” WA captain Sam Whiteman said.Victoria started the final day’s play at 335 for 8 with a lead of 346 runs as Kellaway resumed on 151 not out. Having batted since late day two, Kellaway continued his indefatigable knock with Australia selector Tony Dodemaide watching on with interest in the terraces.Kellaway finished unbeaten on 165 from 338 balls with Victoria declaring 40 minutes into the day’s play. Siddle had shortly before holed out on 15 and received healthy applause from his team-mates as he bowed out from Shield cricket.The 40-year-old Siddle wasn’t done yet as he rocked WA’s bid for a rollicking start when he had Whiteman inside-edging to short-leg for a golden duck. It completed a miserable match for Whiteman, who made a pair after a seven-ball duck in the first innings.Whiteman’s dismissal forced Jayden Goodwin and Cameron Bancroft to bat cautiously through to lunch as the run rate required lifted to more than five an over. But they played with more intent on resumption with Goodwin pounding offspinner Todd Murphy for a couple of sixes down the ground.After a recent lean run, Goodwin had been fortunate to retain his position ahead of Sam Fanning but battled through 132 balls in the first innings – the most by a WA batter. He rattled along to 46, but got carried away and tamely hit Murphy to cover before Bancroft nicked off to Sutherland.Cooper Connolly scored a fluent 56•Getty Images
Ashton Turner was seen as a key due to his positive instincts, but on 21 he edged Siddle to second slip and WA looked down and out at 126 for 4. However, Connolly has enjoyed big moments in domestic cricket before and entered having made four half-centuries in his six previous Shield innings, including a top-score of 56 in WA’s first innings.The aggressive Connolly went against type and scored just nine off his first 37 balls in a desperate bid to get through to tea. Connolly and Cartwright held on, but WA faced the daunting task of needing 208 runs off the final 38 overs.They put the foot down after the interval with Connolly stroking fluently through covers while Cartwright reached his half-century with a six off the back foot sparking healthy applause from his team-mates in the terraces.The sparse crowd started to slowly build as fans trickled in hoping for a remarkable finish. But the match turned when Cartwright was bowled off the inside edge from a full Sutherland delivery.The moment proved too big for wicketkeeper Joel Curtis, who was stumped after running down at Murphy as WA’s task looked beyond them at 242 for 6. However, Connolly still had belief and he reached his half-century with a six off Murphy that sailed into the ground’s construction site.WA got to within 100 runs as a grandstand last hour was in the works before Connolly mistimed a drive off Siddle to cover. Gannon then threw the bat in a last-ditch effort until Kellaway capped the best match of his fledgling career with a moment of brilliance in the field that he’ll never forget.
