da dobrowin： Victoria turned what ought to have been a simple run chase into a desperate, chaotic scramble to beat Western Australia by two wickets off the penultimate ball in Perth
Cricinfo staff02-Feb-2008
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Cameron White smacked 46, but his wicket prompted a late-order panic from Victoria’s tail © Getty Images
Victoria turned what ought to have been a simple run chase into a desperate, chaotic scramble to beat Western Australia by two wickets off the penultimate ball in Perth. In a thrilling conclusion, Peter Siddle and Adam Crosthwaite held their nerve – and exploited those of Western Australia’s fielders – to chase down 226, with Siddle flicking Steve Magoffin to square leg to seal a nail-biting win.It should not have been this tight, however. Victoria needed 71 from 17 overs with David Hussey and Cameron White both going nicely, before Hussey mistimed a pull to mid-on. White then lost Andrew McDonald before he was, perhaps a little unfairly, trapped lbw for a brisk 46. Victoria needed 25 from 24 and, in the 48th over, Clint McKay reduced his side’s nerves with two consecutive fours before he was well caught by Luke Pomersbach.A haplessly run single cost Darren Pattinson his wicket which left the visitors requiring 10 from the final over, and they were given a helping hand – or rather, a helping glove – by Luke Ronchi, the Western Australia wicketkeeper, who couldn’t hold on to an edge off Crosthwaite’s bat which then flew down to third man for four. It was the deal-breaker Victoria needed, and Crosthwaite and Siddle nudged and nurdled the last four runs to win a memorable tie under the Perth lights.Western Australia, hard as their bowlers fought, simply didn’t have enough runs to play with. After struggling to 4 for 57, their innings was given an injection of pace through Marcus North’s 71 and Theo Doropoulos’s 55 from 51 balls, but neither were given the support they needed from a brittle tail. Pattinson’s miserly 3 for 14 from seven overs earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, as Victoria closed the gap on Tasmania with a game in hand. Western Australia are left languishing at the bottom.