A superb captain’s knock from Usman Khawaja was not enough for Queensland as South Australia claimed a three-run win in a thrilling final day of Shield cricket at the Gabba.
Khawaja made a patient century in difficult batting conditions but fell heartbreakingly short of guiding his team home when Jordan Buckingham penetrated his defence for a third wicket in a heroic late spell.
With crucial assistance from Joe Burns (91), Khawaja steered the Bulls to 6-245 with 28 runs to win before Buckingham roared to life.
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After Nathan McAndrew had Jack Wildermuth caught behind for 21, Buckingham blasted out Gurinder Sandhu and Mark Steketee in the same over to reduce Queensland to 9-250.
Khawaja farmed the strike brilliantly as he made 19 off the next four overs but missed a straight drive and was bowled with only four runs required and minutes remaining in the match.
The win was a strong reward for the Redbacks’ aggressive first innings declaration of 5-359 after a rain affected start to the game.
Buckingham, a 23-year-old from Victoria who has only played 12 first-class games but is highly regarded by the national selectors, was thrilled with the resilient win.
“It’s certainly the best game of cricket I’ve ever been involved in. What a moment,” he said.
“It’s an outstanding win. We probably had our backs to the wall after the last fixture, so to stand up when we were dead and buried, that’s huge.”
Buckingham said Khawaja was “outstanding” in defeat after he fought back from a first innings failure to almost carry his side to victory.
“He soaked up a lot of balls, did what he had to do. Obviously he’s an international class player … he was outstanding.”
The win was South Australia’s second from four games as they jumped above Queensland and New South Wales into outright third on the Sheffield Shield table.
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