Victoria has won its way into the One Day Cup final after a clutch win on the final day of the season at Cricket Central, while Tasmanian sensation Mitch Owen blasted a wild 48-ball century.
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South Australia had already won its way into the final but multiple other states came into Sunday with a chance of making the decider.
That changed when Western Australia skittled Queensland for just 131 and easily chased down the total, eliminating the Bulls, with Bryce Jackson winning man of the match honours after taking 4-39.
Jackson was WA’s leading wicket-taker for the tournament despite playing just four times, with the visitors winning by six wickets with 24 overs remaining.
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The result turned Victoria’s clash with NSW into a mini-final and while Sam Konstas (18 off 38) couldn’t contribute much, half-centuries from Matthew Gilkes (72 off 74), Lachlan Shaw (80 off 67) and Chris Green (57 off 47) led the hosts to a strong total of 310.
But after young gun Harry Dixon blasted 57 off 37, his opening partner Campbell Kellaway (117* off 101) and Peter Handscomb (91* off 52) brought the visitors home.
Victoria remarkably reached 2-311 in just 37.4 overs.
Tasmania technically had a chance of reaching 16 points, matching second-placed NSW, coming into the day but was guaranteed to remain behind one of NSW or Victoria.
They instead showed off ambidextrous spinner Nivethan Radhakrishnan, who bowled with both arms during his One-Day Cup debut, depending on whether he was facing a left or right-hander.
Radhakrishnan took 2-61 off 10 overs, nabbing the wickets of Daniel Drew and Ben Manenti, but watched Mackenzie Harvey blast 129 runs including 14 fours and four sixes.
That was before the Mitch Owen show, with the BBL final hero blasting a 48-ball century, the third-fastest by an Australian in a List A match.
While it couldn’t match Jake Fraser-McGurk’s absurd 29-ball ton in the same match-up in late 2023, Owen did beat Fraser-McGurk to a half-century, managing the feat in just 17 balls before slowing down.
Owen was 113* off 55 with 12 fours and seven sixes with Tasmania 3-155, needing 175 off 198 balls to win, at press time.
Fastest List A centuries by an Australian
29 balls – Jake Fraser-McGurk, South Australia vs Tasmania 2023
40 – Glenn Maxwell, Australia vs Netherlands 2023
48 – MITCH OWEN, Tasmania vs South Australia 2025
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