Queensland were crowned the winners of the Sheffield Shield in this edition after they defeated New South Wales in the final by an innings and 33 runs of the tournament in Brisbane. After batting first NSW were bundled out for 143 in the first innings, courtesy a fifer from Michael Nesser and a four-wicket haul from Jack Wildermuth. Captain Kurtis Patterson top-scored for the side with 43 in the innings.
In reply, Queensland thoroughly dominated the NSW bowling attack as they posted 389 on the board. Marnus Labuschagne showed his class once again and struck 192 during the course. Sean Abbott and Nathan Lyon shared 7 wickets among themselves.
Abbott picked up a four-for while Lyon scalped three wickets in the innings for NSW.
The Patterson-led NSW side were trailing by a mammoth margin of 243 and had a uphill task to nullify the deficit.
Though, they started off in a decent manner after openers Daniel Hughes and Mathhew Gikes put 64 for the first wicket on the board but Hughes departure for 40 saw falling of wickets at regular intervals for NSW.
They were soon left struggling at 142/6 before getting bundled out for 213 and lose the final. Mitchell Swepson, Xavier Bartlett and Brendan Doggett picked up three wickets apiece.
Labuschagne expressed delight on the win and the way he stitched his innings. "I felt like it was one of the better innings I've played,” Labuschagne said.
"I felt like I stayed a bit more patient than I have been usually. It was good to get the team in a good position and to finish off the win today,” he further added.
Queensland skipper Unman Khawaja won his first title as the skipper and hailed the team for their efforts. "We've got an excellent dynamic (in the team)," Khawaja said.
"It wasn't a very easy wicket on the first day, it was hard to drive, but you still have to execute, and our bowlers did it beautifully. They did exactly what I asked of them and it put plenty of pressure on the Blues boys,” he said.