Victoria 307 (Harris 100, Chandrasinghe 67, Neser 4-71) and 217 (Perry 75, Short 58, Bartlett 4-32) beat Queensland 175 (Sutherland 4-35) and 185 (Clayton 66, Holland 3-24) by 164 runs
Victoria romped to a massive 164-run win over Queensland at the MCG on Sunday to kick-start a flagging Sheffield Shield campaign and displace their opponents in second spot on the standings.
Requiring 350 to win, Queensland rarely threatened and after reaching 2 for 94 crumbled to be all out for 185 just prior to tea on day four.
“To get a win in my first game as captain, I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Sutherland said. “I have certainly loved the captaincy side of things, loved being involved in things all the time, trying to lead the boys and set the example, and they came along with me beautifully.”
Having resumed at 2 for 65, Queensland retained their hopes until opener Bryce Street’s dismissal for 21 – carving an out-of-character drive to backward point off Matt Short – saw the visitors lose 4 for 30 before the lunch break.
The one-sided winning margin was all the more noteworthy given Victoria’s many absentees.
Regular skipper Peter Handscomb, as well as Scott Boland and Todd Murphy, are in India on Test duties, while Victoria were also without a host of first-choice batters including Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell and Will Pucovski.
“So many young boys are chipping in for us and making contributions,” said Sutherland. “This is going to be the team that will be carrying us forward for the next two or three years. Hopefully we can now snowball a bit, build some momentum and win a couple more.”
It was a modest display with ball, and especially bat, from a Queensland side who could have put edged closer to a Shield final berth with a win.
“There are a couple of things we need to work on coming out of Big Bash to get our season back on track,” Kuhnemann said.