Vics chase MCG home final
Tue, 9 March 2010
David Hussey says Victoria's focus will move to securing a home final after the Bushrangers' thrilling Sheffield Shield win at the WACA on Saturday. The Vics conceded first innings points and a deficit of 75 against Western Australia, but 91 from Matthew Wade and 80 from Damien Wright helped them to 378, setting WA 304 to win in the fourth innings. Andrew McDonald took 4-66 and Damien Wright 3-19 to secure the win, which keeps Victoria on top of the table. The Bushrangers, three points clear of second-placed Queensland, will now play the Bulls in the final. But a win over Tasmania ensures the Vics would host the final at the MCG. A loss would have Queensland host it at the Gabba if the Bulls beat WA next week. Hussey couldn't have been happier with his team's gallant win against the Warriors after a slow start on the first two days. "It was a bloody great fight back in the afternoon on the third day to get a lead of 300 going into day four was vital and then two big wickets overnight probably set the tone for the first session, which set up the game," Hussey said. "We played good, consistent but aggressive cricket and then (Luke) Ronchi gave us a bit of a scare, but he can do that." Pace and bounce has long been the key to wickets at the WACA, but McDonald and Wright's starring roles to set up the Bushrangers win showed accuracy and discipline were now more important. "It proves that here at the WACA you don't have to bowl 100 miles an hour to get wickets. As long as you can move the ball off the straight you definitely get a lot of wickets," he said. "McDonald is just a medium to fast bowler and Damien Wright is no faster, but they move the ball and get wickets. If we could properly catch the game could have been over a bit sooner." Wade scored a terrific 91 in the second innings to continue his outstanding season, which has seen the wicket keeper-batsman score 511 runs at an average of just over 46. Hussey believes the 22-year-old has plenty of international cricket ahead of him. "Matt Wade is fulfilling his potential and everyone knows how good a player he is," he said. "I believe he's going to be a 50-Test player for Australia and his innings of 90 here was top drawer. Hopefully it kick-starts the rest of his season and into the final," Hussey said. Losing the Ford Ranger Cup final to Tasmania last Sunday's left the Bushrangers flat coming to Perth, but securing a spot in the Shield final went a long way towards making up for it, Hussey said. "We came in here a little bit weary after our one-day final loss to Tasmania and we basically started our game at the end of day two," Hussey said. "We're lucky enough to have some pretty good players in our dressing room who love to win and it was important to get the six points to stay top of the table with one Shield game to go." Hussey's excited at the prospect of playing the decider at the MCG. "If you saw the last few Shield finals, the wickets have been dreadfully flat and ours last year at the Junction Oval was unbelievably flat and we were deserved winners. Hopefully this year we get the home final because it is a massive advantage," he said. "The MCG is the home of Australian cricket and I know all our boys every time we drive through the car park and walk onto the MCG the hair on the back of your neck stands up. We haven't lost there in quite some time, so hopefully we can continue that trend."
