New South Wales has the weather gods to thank after Kurtis Patterson’s half-century led them to the One-Day Cup crown in Hobart.
Tasmania was on track to win the Dean Jones Trophy by default with the match well on track for a washout with rain consistently falling from the scheduled 2:05pm start.
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With the match needing to begin by 6:27pm AEDT to get in 20 overs per side, the rain halted in time to play a 22-over match from 6:15pm, and NSW immediately took control.
Ben Dwarshius struck twice in the first over and when Jordan Silk was run out, the hosts were 5-25 and staring down an embarrassing defeat.
Tim Ward’s 26 and Nikhil Chaudhary’s 31 got Tasmania to a defendable total of 118 from 20.3 overs, with Dwarshius (3-30) and Sean Abbott (3-25) doing the damage.
The Blues wobbled through their chase, sitting 4-58 and 5-73, but it was the steady hand of Patterson (52 not out) who led them to victory after his excellent summer.
That included Patterson’s century against Tasmania at the same venue late last month, which booked his state’s place in the final.
He finished with 513 runs at 102.60 for the One-Day Cup.
NSW reached the target of 119 with 11 balls remaining.
It is their first One-Day Cup triumph since 2020-21, following defeats in the 2021-22 and 2023-24 finals against Western Australia.
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