Tasmania v NSW: One-Day Cup final preview

Get all the latest news and broadcast details as Tasmania and NSW face off for the Dean Jones Trophy

Match facts

Who: Tasmanian Tigers v NSW Blues

What: Final, One-Day Cup 2025-26

Where: Bellerive Oval, Hobart

When: Wednesday, March 11. Coin toss at 1.20pm AEDT, first ball at 2.05pm AEDT

How to watch: cricket.com.au, CA Live app, Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports

How to attend: Entry to Bellerive Oval is free

Live scores: Match Centre

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Officials: Sam Nogajski and Phil Gillespie (field), Shawn Craig (third), Mike Graham-Smith (fourth), David Gilbert (match referee)

Teams

Tasmania squad: To be announced

Star white-ball quick Nathan Ellis is set to return following Australia’s early exit from the T20 World Cup, with spinner Matthew Kuhnemann and veteran wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who was part of the coaching team for the tournament, also back in the mix for the final.

Captain Jordan Silk has recovered from a cracked humerus bone in his left shoulder after missing Tasmania’s one-day loss to NSW last month, with allrounder Nikhil Chaudhary and speedster Riley Meredith also in contention after sitting out the previous match with their spot in the final already secure.

Coach Jeff Vaughan admitted selectors are feeling the squeeze.

“We’ve got a few decisions to be made over the next 48 hours before the game,” Vaughan said on Monday.

“It’s likely that someone of note is going to be left out of the team because 14 or 15 players don’t go into 11 unfortunately. They’re going to be tough decisions but a great position for us to be in.”

NSW squad: To be announced

Aussie T20 stars Adam Zampa, Ben Dwarshuis and Sean Abbott have all previously been flagged as being available for the final, but NSW have yet to confirm if the trio will feature.

The Blues have an injury concern with captain Jack Edwards missing their Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide last week with a hamstring injury. In-form batter Kurtis Patterson would continue as stand-in skipper if allrounder Edwards misses another match.

The Tigers and Blues split their two head-to-head matches during the regular season.

Tasmania edged home by two wickets with four balls to spare in the season opener as Brad Hope (49 not out) and Matthew Kuhnemann (56no) put on an unbroken 101 runs for the ninth wicket to lift their side from 8-124 to their target of 225 at Cricket Central.

Then, on the final day of the home-and-away matches, Kurtis Patterson’s 125no from 89 balls inspired NSW to a bonus point victory to edge ahead of Queensland by one point in the final standings. NSW needed to chase down Tasmania’s 274 in 40 overs or less at Bellerive Oval to secure second spot, but they needed just 31 thanks to Patterson’s sensational knock.

NSW hold a comfortable advantage in the overall One-Day Cup head-to-head and have won six of the past seven matches between the two sides dating back to March 2021.

Form this season

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

Tasmania: LLWWWWW

Despite dropping their past two games to Western Australia and NSW last month, Tasmania have been the dominant side throughout this summer’s 50-over competition, locking up hosting rights of the final in November after winning their first five matches. They won four of those matches comfortably, including two with a bonus point, while they staged a remarkable comeback in the season opener when ninth-wicket Hope and Kuhnemann helped beat NSW with four balls to spare at Cricket Central.

NSW: WWLLWWL

NSW have trended in the opposite direction to the Tigers, storming home late in the season with back-to-back wins to secure the second spot in the decider. Needing a bonus point victory in the final round to clinch second spot, stand-in captain Kurtis Patterson smashed a stunning 68-ball ton as the Blues chased down Tasmania’s 275 in just 31 overs at Bellerive Oval – the same venue that will host Wednesday’s final. NSW enter the decider on a hot streak after also accounting for reigning champions South Australia by seven wickets with six overs to spare in their penultimate game where Patterson hit his second of three centuries for the season.

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What they said

Players to watch

Beau Webster (Tasmania): The Australian allrounder has starred with both bat and ball in his five appearances this One-Day Cup season. He’s hit 306 runs at an average of 61, including a career-best 50-over knock of 138 against Western Australia last month. Webster has also taken five wickets in three bowling innings this season, while he was the second highest wicket-taker (16 at 9.56) in the competition the previous summer.

Kurtis Patterson (NSW): Despite a pair of low scores in last week’s Shield loss to South Australia, the experienced left-hander has enjoyed an extended purple patch this summer. Patterson is the top run-scorer in the One-Day Cup this season with 518 at an average of 102 with three centuries, including consecutive tons in his past two matches. Patterson has also hit two Shield centuries this summer.

Top performers

Local knowledge

Bellerive Oval has a reputation as one of the fastest scoring white-ball venues in the country, and that was indeed the case in the last One-Day Cup match when NSW chased down 275 in just 31 overs to seal their spot in the decider. The collective batting strike rate is better than a run-a-ball (106.9) across the past three One-Day Cup seasons at the venue, with the combined batting average a healthy 38.78.

Rapid stats

NSW have won six of their past seven One-Day Cup matches against Tasmania, including a seven-wicket win in their last encounter on February 21, with each of their past four meetings won by the team batting second on the day.
NSW have won their past four One-Day Cup games against Tasmania in Tasmania, taking all 10 of the Tigers’ wickets in each of their past three such fixtures; indeed, their last loss to Tasmania in Tasmania was in November 2019.
This will be the first meeting between Tasmania and NSW in the final of the One-Day Cup competition; Tasmania will be looking to win the final for the first time since 2009-10, while NSW are hunting for their first One-Day Cup trophy since 2020-21.
Tasmania come into this match on the back of two straight defeats after winning their previous seven matches in a row in the One-Day Cup.
All five of Tasmania’s One-Day Cup matches in Tasmania since the beginning of 2025 have been won by the team batting second on the day, while the Tigers have won three of their past four matches in their home state.
NSW have won six of their past nine One-Day Cup matches outside NSW after winning only two of their previous seven matches outside their home state; though, they’ve lost all 10 of their wickets in three of their past four such fixtures.
Mitch Owen (Tasmania) has a batting strike rate of 175.4 in the 2025-26 One-Day Cup campaign, the highest of any batter in the competition; he’s scored 121 runs from 69 balls faced, including nine sixes – the third most sixes of any player in the campaign (Jack Wildermuth and Joel Curtis – both 10).
Ryan Hadley (NSW) has taken nine wickets across his past four One-Day Cup innings, including a five-wicket haul against Tasmania last time out – the best figures by a NSW bowler against Tasmania since Sean Abbott took 5-43 against them in September 2018.

Tim Ward (Tasmania) has scored 279 runs at an average of 55.8 across his past five One-Day Cup innings, including two centuries, but has scored just 84 runs at an average of 28 across his three innings at Bellerive Oval in Tasmania.
Kurtis Patterson (NSW) has scored an unbeaten century in each of his past two One-Day Cup innings (104no and 125no); the last player to score a century in three consecutive innings in the competition was Phil Jaques from November to December in 2005.

What’s on the line?

Introduced last season, this will be the second time the victorious state lifts the Dean Jones Trophy for winning the men’s domestic 50-over competition. Cricket Australia unveiled the perpetual trophy named in late Jones’ honour last season after a public vote, with Australian and Victorian great the most popular selection. Jones played 52 Tests (averaging 46.55 with the bat) and 164 ODIs (average of 44.61) and is considered by many as one of Australia’s first great one-day players due to his dynamic batting, powerful running between wickets and X-factor ability to break a game open with a few cracks of his blade. He scored 2,122 One-Day Cup runs for Victoria at an average of 50.52 with a top score of 139 not out. Jones also captained the Vics to the 1994-95 one-day title.

Tasmania have won the One-Day Cup competition four times, most recently in 2009-10 when former Test captain Tim Paine starred with a century to beat Victoria. NSW have played in three of the past five domestic men’s one-day finals and are chasing their first title since 2020-21. The Blues have won the competition 12 times, the second most successful state behind Western Australia (17).

One-Day Cup 2025-26 standings