Victoria 182 for 8 (Handscomb 43, Dwarshuis 3-43) vs New South Wales
This time he fell caught at short leg, prodding forward to a delivery from Chris Tremain that jagged off the seam. He got an inside edge onto pad and it ballooned to Ryan Hackney at short leg.
Pucovski, batting at No. 3 on return after being rested from the loss to Queensland, was nearly out in identical fashion but Hackney was unable to get his hand under the ball as he dived forward onto the pitch. Pucovski should have also been out on 10 when he edged Dwarshuis behind but wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes was wrong-footed and he grassed the relatively straight-forward chance diving to his right.
Pucovski and Dean ground out a 68-run stand in nearly 35 overs on a tricky surface that had plenty of live green grass. Both men faced more than a hundred balls and managed just two boundaries apiece on the soft, slow outfield. Pucovski finally fell to Jackson Bird, edging behind trying to defend from the crease.
Dean continued to grind alongside Handscomb who was far more fluent. But Dean fell to an innocuous Moises Henriques delivery, guiding it to slip with anchored feet after facing 154 deliveries for his 39.
Handscomb played nicely for his 43 but his dismissal sparked a disastrous collapse. He played an uncharacteristic pull shot while setting up square on to Dwarshuis from around the wicket. The short ball was wide of off stump and he top-edged it to square leg trying to drag it over midwicket.
Captain Will Sutherland also fell to a short ball trap from Dwarshuis, spooning a catch to deep backward square with two men placed for the exact shot.
Things went from bad to worse when Short was run out having looked in good touch. Harper pulled a ball into the short leg fielder and it ricocheted towards midwicket, Harper called ‘yes’ and then ‘no’ as he realised Green was swooping. Short took off to the initial call and was forced to scramble back but Green’s brilliant direct hit beat his desperate dive.
Dwarshuis had Mitch Perry caught behind shortly after before Fergus O’Neill was trapped plumb infront by Tremain in the final over of the day with the lights in full effect.