In a run-fest at The Gabba, Western Australia managed to stay on top of the home side Queensland Bulls, defeating them by 70 runs to win their third match of the Australian domestic One Day Cup. The 70 run victory margin may look very large, but not if it is revealed that the chasing team made 291 as well.
Chasing a target of 362, set up by the WA, Queensland didn’t have a great start as they lost their skipper Usman Khawaja at the team score of only 13. From there onwards, wickets fell at regular intervals before Joe Burns ( 73) and Jimmy Peirson (62), two of the most experienced Queenslander got together and stitched a 124 run partnership off just 104 balls.
The duo threatened to complete what would have been the second-best chase in Australian domestic ODI. When they were at the crease, the Bulls needed only 125 runs in 75 balls with six wickets in hand.
However, Andrew Tye came back with a vicious spell and got both wickets one over apart. This broke the Bulls’ resistance and the entire team could only get up to 291 in 48.5 overs. Tye picked three wickets in total for the WA side.
Earlier in the day, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Western Australia rode on a magnificent hundred from Cameron Bancroft along with some stupendous hitting at the backend by Cameron Green and skipper Ashton Turner to get to 361-3 in their 50 overs. While Bancroft remained unbeaten on 124 off 105 balls, Green was removed on 70 off 55 balls by James Bazley. Turner also remained unbeaten on 70 off only 41 balls.
Courtesy of this win, WA now have three wins in four games and are at the top of the six-team points table.