Redbacks hit the one-day cellar
New South Wales beat South Australia by 49 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the final minor round one-day fixture in Sydney Tuesday night.
The win takes NSW into the domestic one-day preliminary final and leaves SA at the bottom of the Ryobi Cup ladder.
The Blues play Victoria with the winner heading to Sunday’s final against Queensland.
In a stop-start match NSW accumulated a competitive total of 8 for 252 off 42 overs, with further rain reducing the target to 248 off 41.
NSW allrounder Sean Abbott turned in a man of the match performance, adding 3-32 off six overs to his quickfire knock of 50 with the bat.
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Test off-spinner and former Redback Nathan Lyon (3-64) also bowled well for NSW collecting three top-order wickets, although some late hitting blew out his figures.
Tom Cooper was the only South Australian batsman to shine, with the in-form No.3 hitting 73 at better than a run-a-ball.
When Lyon trapped him LBW the Redbacks were reeling at 4-113, and with the required run-rate always rising they were eventually dismissed with 6.1 overs remaining.
Earlier, Australian representative Nic Maddinson hit a rapid-fire 75 off 74 balls to top-score for NSW.
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Test opener David Warner looked on track to repeat his recent red-hot form which had reaped successive centuries over the past week, only to miss-hit a big shot and fall for 32 off 23 balls.
Forced from the field in the 33rd over and teetering at 6-173, NSW profited from a seventh-wicket partnership of 81 between Abbott and Steve O’Keefe.
South Australian quick Joe Mennie claimed 4-58, while captain Johan Botha chipped in with 2-29 including the important wicket of Maddinson.
Abbott said NSW were building momentum ahead of the upcoming finals.
“We have a bit more of a roll-on now, especially after we beat Victoria the other day,” he said.
“We spoke in the pre-season about making winning a habit and I think we are starting to get that now.
“There are a lot of positives and if everyone is ready to go in the next match, I think we can put a very good performance on the board.”
New South Wales runs (balls)
D WARNER c Botha b Mennie 32 (23)
P NEVILL c Ludeman b Mennie 3 (11)
S SMITH b George 1 (2)
N MADDINSON c Ross b Botha 75 (74)
K PATTERSON run out (Zampa) 33 (48)
B ROHRER st Ludeman b Botha 0 (1)
S ABBOTT c Botha b Mennie 50 (42)
S O’KEEFE c Cooper b Mennie 31 (43)
G SANDHU not out 8 (6)
N LYON not out 6 (3)
Sundries (12w 1nb) 13
Eight wickets for 252
Fall: 30 (Nevill), 35 (Smith), 52 (Warner), 153 (Maddinson), 153 (Rohrer), 154 (Patterson), 235 (Abbott), 245 (O’Keefe).
Bowling: J Mennie 8-0-58-4 (3w 1nb), P George 7-0-54-1 (2w), K Richardson 8-0-51-0 (1w), J Botha 8-0-29-2, A Zampa 6-0-31-0 (1w), S Miller 5-0-29-0 (1w).
Overs: 42.
South Australia runs (balls)
M KLINGER c O’Keefe b Abbott 19 (42)
M WEAVER b Bollinger 0 (2)
T COOPER lbw Lyon 73 (62)
S MILLER b Bollinger 11 (17)
A ROSS b Lyon 14 (18)
J BOTHA lbw Lyon 1 (6)
T LUDEMAN c Warner b Abbott 34 (29)
J MENNIE c Sandhu b Abbott 8 (12)
A ZAMPA not out 20 (11)
K RICHARDSON c Warner b Sandhu 5 (9)
P GEORGE b Sandhu 0 (1)
Sundries (4lb 9w) 13
Total 198
Fall: 3 (Weaver), 76 (Klinger), 113 (Miller), 113 (Cooper), 116 (Botha), 139 (Ross), 173 (Mennie), 173 (Ludeman), 197 (Richardson), 198 (George).
Bowling: D Bollinger 7-0-36-2 (4w), G Sandhu 4.5-0-30-2 (2w), S O’Keefe 8-0-32-0, S Abbott 6-0-32-3 (1w), N Lyon 9-0-64-3 (2w).
Overs: 34.5.
Result: New South Wales won by 49 runs under Duckworth-Lewis method
Man of the Match: Sean Abbott
Points: NSW 4 SA 0
