Sheffield Shield: Tasmania bowls out Victoria for 233
Victoria were bowled-out for 233, just before tea on the first day of the four-day match against Tasmania during the Sheffield Shield. The match is being played at Hobart.
George Bailey won the toss for Tasmania and elected to field first because of overcast conditions at Hobart. The wicket seemed to have some moisture beneath, which the Tasmanian bowlers took full advantage of.
Tasmania got a perfect start as they dismissed both the openers early. Ryan Carters was the first man to be dismissed. He failed to contribute to the scoreboard and was out for a duck. Michael Hill followed his opening partner and was undone by Ben Hilfenhaus
after scoring just eight runs.
The fall of two quick wickets brought the in-form batsman, Aaron Finch, at the crease along with Victoria’s captain Andrew McDonald.
The pair stuck to the pitch and took the team’s total to 144 with a brilliant 128-run partnership. McDonald was out after scoring 65 runs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mathew Wade wasn’t able to contribute much to the score and was out after adding just four runs to the total.
Victoria suffered a huge blow when Finch was dismissed. The first-drop player played a beautiful knock of 83 runs. He would have been disappointed as he missed out on a century. But considering the conditions of the pitch, it was a classy innings from Finch.
Finch’s wicket saw a collapse for the team and none of the lower-middle order batsmen were able to score much. James Pattinson was only the third batsman for Victoria, who reached double figures. He scored 31 before getting out. Pattinson was the last wicket
to fall for Victoria.
Hilfenhaus was phenomenal with the ball as he did the main damage, taking wickets at the top of the order. He finished with figures of 4 for 44, Tasmania’s fourth best figure in Sheffield Shield. Luke Butterworth caused trouble for the middle-order batsmen,
also taking four wickets while conceding 62 runs.
Tasmania will be looking to score as many runs as possible to take a big first-innings lead against Victoria. They will be eyeing to bat just once in the match.