Matthew Short’s scintillating century overshadowed Sam Heazlett’s gritty ton as Victoria thumped Queensland by nine wickets at the MCG. Heazlett carried his bat through but following Fergus O’Neill’s 4-22, Queensland were shot down for a lowly 202 in the 47th over. Victoria’s second-wicket pair put on a 194-run stand to help their side over the line with 19 overs to spare.
Having opted to bat, Queensland were in all sorts of trouble as O’Neill and Will Sutherland (2-32) blew away the top order. Except for Heazlett, the pair shared six wickets between them, reducing Queensland to 56/6 in under 17 overs.
Heazlett tried to revive their innings with a 91-run stand with no. 8 Will Prestwidge, who chipped in a handy 37 off 56 before departing just as the team neared the 150 mark. Fending with the tail, the opener added another 55 runs before he became the last man dismissed in their innings, just as he reached triple figures.
Victoria’s chase didn’t get off on a bright note either as Prestwidge trapped opener James Seymour with his fifth ball of the game. But Short and Harris helped their side get over the setback commendably. Short hit 14 boundaries and a six in his century knock, getting to his hundred in just 89 balls with a boundary through the covers. Harris, meanwhile, reached his half-century in 65 balls, with the help of nine fours and a six.
Brief scores: Queensland 202 all out in 46.2 overs (Sam Heazlett 100; Fergus O’ Neill 4-22) lost to Victoria 205/1 in 31 overs (Matthew Short 108*, Marcus Harris 78*) by 9 wickets
