Sheffield Shield Round 7, Day 4: Khawaja Leads QLD Miracle
In our day 3 wrap we stated that Usman Khawaja would need to get a huge score if the Queensland Bulls were to get anywhere near the 470 runs required for victory over South Australia in the 4th innings. Quite incredibly, this is exactly what transpired. QLD began the day needing 300 runs with 8 wickets in hand. This was made to look even more difficult when Nick Stevens fell with the score on 179. Next up was Peter Forrest, who stuck around for a hell of a long time (35 off 155 balls) before falling with 210 runs still required.
Heading into the last session, Queensland still required 163 off 36 overs. It was at this point that Khawaja, with support from James Hopes (58 off 63) and Chris Hartley (48* off 59), put the hammer down and flew to an truly phenomenal victory, with 8 overs to spare. Usman Khawaja walked off with 182 not out off 320 balls in what must be the innings of the season.
Queensland’s running down of 470 was the second biggest run chase in Sheffield Shield history. It stands as some revenge for the record itself, which is held by South Australia against Queensland and was done in the 90/91 season.
Speaking of amazing performances, Marcus North once again was unstoppable and drove his Western Australia side to victory over Tasmania. He hit 79 of WA’s 259. Adam Voges was also instrumental in achieving the total, getting 75. WA were 6 down when they passed the target. North now has 759 runs for the series, averaging 94.88, quite incredible.
South Australia’s unlikely loss means that they lose top spot on the table to New South Wales on quotient. They both sit on 24, Western Australia are 4 points adrift on 20, Queensland are on 16, Tasmania 10 and Victoria 8.
