Queensland 172 & 223 (Peirson 82, Steketee 53, O’Neill 4-22, Elliott 3-62) beat Victoria 123 & 249 (Handscomb 78, Swepson 4-88, Steketee 3-46) by 23 runs
With Australia set to take multiple spinners for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in January and February, Swepson’s performance was timely. He was spinning the ball so much on the turning pitch that one crowd member even yelled out, “Is that Shane Warne?” after one particularly impressive delivery.
Queensland resumed play on day three at 195 for 8 and boasting a lead of 244. The Bulls added 28 before being bowled out for 223, with Steketee reaching 53 but only able to add five runs to his overnight score.
Victoria’s chase didn’t start well. Star opener Marcus Harris was out for a two-ball duck when bowled by Tom Straker, and it was 26 for 2 when Jonathan Merlo edged Steketee behind.
Campbell Kellaway (30) steadied the ship somewhat, but was clean bowled when Swepson got a delivery to turn sharply out of the foot marks. Swepson nabbed his second scalp when he bowled Tom Rogers for 14, and it was 115 for 5 when Sam Harper fell to Jack Wildermuth.
Mitchell Perry became the third player to be bowled by Swepson, and Victoria’s hopes appeared over when Swepson found an edge from Handscomb to leave the home side 183 for 7.
But there were more twists and turns to come, with Victoria bravely fighting to 246 for 8 as Sam Elliott (30), Xavier Crone (28) and Fergus O’Neill (13) added handy runs.
Victoria needed 27 more runs for victory with two wickets in hand, but when Steketee had O’Neill caught at gully and then trapped Crone plumb in front a short time later, it sparked wild celebrations among the Bulls.
Steketee was named man of the match for his scores of 44 not out and 53 to go with his bowling returns of 3 for 32 and 3 for 46.
