Victoria v South Australia: Sheffield Shield final preview

Match details

Who: Victoria v South Australia

 

What: 2025-26 Sheffield Shield final

 

When: March 26-30, 2026

 

Where: Junction Oval, Melbourne

How to watch: cricket.com.au, CA Live app, Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports. The commentary team for the final will feature Adam White, Bruce Eva, Bryce McGain, Jason Behrendorff, Rob Quiney and Adam Crosthwaite

How to listen: Listeners can tune into ABC Radio for live commentary of the match

How to attend: Tickets available to purchase here

Live scores: Match Centre

Hours of play:

 

– Coin toss 9.45am AEDT

 

– First session 10.30am – 12.30pm AEDT

 

– Second session 1.10pm – 3.10pm AEDT

 

– Third session 3.30pm – 5.30pm AEDT

 

*An extra 30 minutes is available to complete daily overs

Officials: Sam Nogajski and Shawn Craig (field), Donovan Koch (third), Phil Gillespie (fourth), Kepler Wessels (match referee)

Highlights, news and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Match squads

Victoria: To be announced

The runaway ladder-leaders have a relatively fresh bill of health and have been boosted by the return of Test star Scott Boland in the second half of the season. He took four wickets against SA during their round 10 clash and will also be available for the final. Allrounder Matt Short isn’t available as he joins Chennai Super Kings ahead of the Indian Premier League season.

But the Vics have a brutal selection call looming for the final with either Mitch Perry or Sam Elliott to make way for Fergus O’Neill, who was rested for the last round of the regular season. Elliott (33 wickets in seven matches) and Perry (32 in eight matches) are the Victorians’ most prolific Shield bowlers this season.

South Australia (unofficial): Nathan McSweeney (c), Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton

SA’s Aussie star Travis Head will be absent as he too heads to India for another season with Sunrisers Hyderabad, but Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey will play in the Shield decider for a second straight season after scoring a century 12 months ago to help defeat Queensland.

But unlike their opponents, the defending champions have several injury concerns leading into the final. Coach Ryan Harris has confirmed Test-capped quick Brendan Doggett will miss the final due to a hamstring injury he suffered in round seven. Young left-armer Campbell Thompson (hamstring) was also ruled out for the season after an impressive debut for the state last month. But Wes Agar is pushing for a return from a back injury and took two wickets from 11.5 overs in a club cricket semi-final for Kensington over the weekend. Harris said Agar will come into a 14-man squad for the final alongside leg-spinner Lloyd Pope and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has only played one game this Shield season, but will provide batting cover against Victoria following strong performances in club cricket.

Pope, who also played for Kensington and claimed 3-121 from 26 overs, could also come into the conversation for a Shield final recall after almost 100 overs of spin were bowled across the four days at Junction Oval during their round 10 draw with the Vics. SA are expected to officially release their squad on Tuesday, but Harris announced the changes at a press conference on Monday.

Possible XIs

Victoria: Sam Harper (wk), Campbell Kellaway, Dylan Brasher, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Oliver Peake, Will Sutherland (c), Fergus O’Neill, Sam Elliott, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland

With Fergus O’Neill returning after being rested in round 10, it’s a line-ball call between seamers Mitch Perry and Sam Elliott as to who wins the race for the final spot in the Vics’ XI. Both have had terrific seasons and have been Victoria’s two leading wicket-takers throughout the campaign (Elliott 33, Perry 32).

South Australia: Henry Hunt, Mackenzie Harvey, Nathan McSweeney (c), Jason Sangha, Alex Carey (wk), Jake Lehmann, Liam Scott, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Henry Thornton, Jordan Buckingham

The defending champions have been hit by injuries in the second half of the season but have hit form at the right time to surge into a second straight final. Coach Ryan Harris said he didn’t expect too many changes when speaking to the media after their round 10 draw with Victoria, with Brendan Doggett failing recover from a hamstring injury. Test star Alex Carey’s availability has been a boost following the Ashes, while leg-spinner Lloyd Pope is another option if SA wanted to change up their bowling attack.

Recent history

Round 10 (Junction Oval): South Australia (305 & 3d-204) drew with Victoria (308)

The two sides played out an uneventful draw in the last round of the season in what turned out to be a dress rehearsal for this week’s final after SA sealed second spot midway through day two courtesy of earning more first innings bonus points than third-placed Queensland did in their clash Tasmania.

Opener Henry Hunt (81) and Ben Manenti (53) lifted the visitors to a strong first innings total after being sent in before Campbell Kellaway (66), Oliver Peake (59) and captain Will Sutherland (51) led Victoria’s reply to take a slender three-run lead. But rain washed out most of day three in Melbourne and killed the contest, as Hunt (48) again and Jason Sangha (57 not out) soaked up some valuable batting practice on day four ahead of the two sides’ rematch in the final. Victorian spinner Todd Murphy took four first innings wickets and SA counterpart Manenti (2-76) sent down 31 overs in what could provide valuable insights for the decider, which will be played at the same venue.

Round one (Adelaide Oval): South Australia (9d-350 & 223) lost to Victoria (9d-343 & 6-231)

Henry Hunt (126) and Jake Lehmann (113) put Victoria’s bowlers to the sword on day one as the reigning champions ended the opening day of the new season at a commanding 3-270. But the Vics fought back across the next three days and with Will Sutherland away with Australia A in India, stand-in skipper Peter Handscomb led the reply with a century of his own.

Handscomb declared seven runs behind before left-armer spinner Doug Warren (5-69) ran through SA in the second to leave Victoria chasing 231 to win. At 6-147 they were in serious trouble before second-gamer Oliver Peake (70no) and Fergus O’Neill (33no) guided the visitors home with an unbroken 84-run seventh-wicket stand, the first of four straight wins to start the season for runaway ladder-leaders Victoria.

Last time they met in the final (2016-17 at Alice Springs): Victoria (487 & 323) drew with South Australia (287 & 6-236)

Victoria met SA in two consecutive Sheffield Shield finals during their hat-trick of titles from 2014-15 to 2016-17. The second of those wins came as the away team at Glenelg in March 2016, which remains the most recent occasion the second-placed side has upset the top-ranked team in the Shield final. A year later they met again in the decider, this time in Alice Springs with Junction Oval out of action due to renovations after Victoria finished on top.

Marcus Harris (120) and Travis Dean (94) gave the Vics a superb start with an opening stand of 224 before Seb Gotch (52) and James Pattinson (80) chipped in down the order as they posted a sizable first innings total after opting to bat. Left-armer spinner Jon Holland then took seven wickets to give Victoria a 200-run lead before Aaron Finch cracked 83 to set SA 524 to win in two-and-a-half sessions on the final day. Despite a whirlwind century from Travis Head (137no from 172 balls), it was too tall a task, with a draw enough for Victoria to claim a third consecutive Sheffield Shield.

Road to the final

Most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: no result

Victoria: DWWLWLWWWW

The Vics have been the dominant team throughout the season, becoming just the fifth team to win seven or more games in a Sheffield Shield home-and-away season. They won their first four games of the season, including a 300-run thumping of a star-studded NSW outfit in round four where they took down a Test-calibre attack featuring Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

Two losses to Queensland either side of the Big Bash break failed to stall their momentum as they secured a spot in the final and hosting rights with a 353-run demolition of Western Australia in round eight, highlighted by Sam Harper’s twin centuries and Scott Boland’s second innings six-wicket haul.

South Australia: DWWDWDWDLL

The defending Shield champions are undefeated in the four-day competition since late October, having last lost a match in round two against Queensland.

They’ve won two of their past three matches, with a draw against fellow finalists Victoria in the last round of the season enough to seal a spot in the decider after Queensland went down to Tasmania.

Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings

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Local knowledge

What’s on the line?

Victoria and South Australia were two of the three inaugural teams to contest the Sheffield Shield alongside NSW when it began 133 years ago. But as the smallest of the three colonies and now second smallest state in the competition, their success contrasts significantly with domestic powerhouses NSW (47 Shield titles) and Victoria (32) who had larger talent pools to draw from.

SA broke a 29-year Sheffield Shield drought when they defeated Queensland in the final at Karen Rolton Oval last March, sparking an incredible pitch invasion when Jason Sangha hit the winning runs that mirrored the scenes that followed their previous title win in 1995-96. The state is seeking to win back-to-back Shield titles for the first time in their history with none of their previous 14 wins coming in consecutive seasons.

Meanwhile, Victoria have been the equal most successful team this millennium alongside Queensland with seven Shield titles since the start of 2000. The most recent of those was when they last hosted the final at Junction Oval in 2018-19, defeating NSW by 177 runs in the final. They’ve since fallen short in two finals against WA, been knocked out of the running when they were beaten by WA in the last round of the home-and-away campaign, before missing a spot last year’s final by 0.27 points.

The two sides are competing to lift the iconic Sheffield Shield, perhaps the most famous cricket trophy in Australia – if not world – behind the Ashes urn. The origins of the Shield date back to 1891 when Lord Sheffield (a promoter for the England team led by W.G. Grace) donated £150 for a trophy to be struck for inter-colonial cricket between NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Queensland (9 titles) joined in 1926-27, WA (18) in 1947-48, winning the title in their first season, and finally Tasmania (3) in 1977-78. Since 1982-83, a final between the two top-ranked teams has determined the winner of the Sheffield Shield.

Find out more about the Sheffield Shield here.

What happens if it’s a draw?

If the match ends in a draw after five days – as it did in 2021-22 when WA were declared champions over Victoria – then the title will go to the state who secures the most bonus points after the first innings. This is the only time there hasn’t been an outright result in six finals since the tiebreaker was changed to the current bonus points method for the 2018-19 decider.

Bonus points are awarded only in the first 100 overs of each team’s first innings. The batting side earns 0.01 of a bonus point for every run scored over 200 in that first 100 overs (for example: 350 runs after 100 overs gets you 1.5 bonus points). The bowling side earns 0.1 of a bonus point for every wicket they take (for example: 10 wickets in the first 100 overs equals 1 bonus point).

If the match is drawn or tied and the bonus points are tied, then Victoria will be declared the winners of the 2025-26 Sheffield Shield by virtue of finishing on top of the standings.

If weather intervenes (rain is forecast in Melbourne on the first two days), then a result from bonus points will only be applicable if a minimum of 270 overs are bowled in the match. If there are fewer than 270 overs bowled and the match is drawn, then Victoria will be declared the winners of the 2025-26 Sheffield Shield as the top-ranked team.

Are there injury substitutes?

Yes! New this season in the Sheffield Shield, each team is permitted one injury substitution each match. In the final, the two teams will be permitted to make their injury or reciprocal tactical substitution up until stumps on day three (normally day two during the regular season) owing to the longer duration of the season decider, which is scheduled for five days compared to four days for home-and-away matches.

There are no restrictions on the type of ailment permitting a player to be subbed out of a match, with illness also included, and the injury may be sustained any time after the toss, either pre- or post-play (during warm-ups or away from the venue overnight). To provide fairness for the opposing team, they would then be permitted to make a tactical substitution in response, also by stumps on day three in the final.

Replacements must be like-for-like – that is, a fast bowler for a fast bowler, spinner for a spinner, batter for a batter and so on. The opposition’s tactical sub must also be like-for-like to the injured player. Cricket Australia’s chief medical officer (or proxy in their absence) may also require the injured player in the Shield final to submit a scan before a replacement is allowed, given the usual deterrent of a 12-day standdown period is obsolete at the end of the season.

Sheffield Shield final 2025-26

March 26-30: Victoria v South Australia, Junction Oval, Melbourne

The Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast live on cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, Foxtel and Kayo Sports