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Toss Winner - Tasmania won the toss and choose to bat first
Tasmania take on New South Wales in a day-night contest at the Bellerive Oval, starting on Saturday!
We are backing New South Wales to win!
| Tournament: | Sheffield Shield, 2024-25 |
| Format: | test |
| Venue: | Blundstone Arena, Bellerive, Australia |
| Toss Prediction: | To Bowl |
| Weather: | 24.1°C|Overcast |
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| Bookie | TasmaniaTSC | New South WalesNSW |
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The final round of Sheffield Shield fixtures begin this weekend and there are four teams in the hunt for second place. South Australia are streets ahead at the top of the tree with Tasmania marooned at the bottom, but Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria are all still vying for a place in the final at the end of this month!
Interestingly it was Tasmania who came out on top when the sides last met back in November. At the Sydney Cricket Ground, it was Tim Ward who took the Player of the Match award with scores of 92 and 96 in his side's 55 run triumph.
But Tasmania have won only one of their four subsequent games whereas New South Wales have won two and drawn one since that meeting in November.
New South Wales will begin higher in the table and with more to play for, but Tasmania have home advantage as well as the success from their previous head to head a recent memory.
TSC
329/9 in 50.0 6.58
MODC2024-25
Tasmania beat South Australia by 2 wickets330/8 in 49.0 6.73
NSW
310/10 in 49.5 6.22
MODC2024-25
Victoria beat New South Wales by 8 wickets311/2 in 37.4 8.26
310/9 in 45.0 6.89
MODC2024-25
Queensland beat New South Wales by 54 runs256/10 in 42.2 6.05
205/10 in 47.1 4.35
MODC2024-25
New South Wales beat Tasmania by 7 wickets209/3 in 38.3 5.43
Tasmania come into this game after being well beaten by Queensland in their last game which concluded on Sunday. In a game which Jordan Silk's side would probably want to forget as soon as possible, they posted 161 in reply to Queensland's 452/9 declared and were forced to follow-on before eventually losing by nine wickets.
But the good thing for Tasmania is they have the opportunity to right the wrongs of that defeat immediately in this game and will be returning to the same venue for this contest.
The pick of their bowlers at this ground last week were Gabe Bell (3/79) and Beau Webster (3/71) in the first innings. We expect those two to bowl a large number of overs, particularly in the first innings, before Matthew Kuhnemann will look to take advantage of the pitch across the final day.
With the bat, Jake Weatherald comes into the game in strong form while Tim Ward has some excellent memories from the November fixture between the sides.
Nivethan Radhakrishnan, Jake Weatherald, Tim Ward, Jordan Silk (c), Jake Doran (wk), Beau Webster, Mitchell Owen, Kieran Elliott, Matthew Kuhnemann, Gabe Bell, Riley Meredith
Jordan Silk, Jake Doran, Caleb Jewell, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Gabe T Bell, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, Aidan OConnor
New South Wales travel to Tasmania to end their Sheffield Shield league phase season after playing out a draw against Western Australia last weekend. In a result which neither side really wanted at the WACA, New South Wales were unable to make the most of a 65 run first innings lead and at one stage in the final innings of the game looked like the side most likely to lose!
But they are still in the hunt for a top two place and a spot in the final which will be their goal along with a victory against Tasmania in Hobart this weekend.
In order to achieve both of their objectives, New South Wales will be looking to their top three of Sam Konstas, Nic Maddinson and Kurtis Patterson to score the bulk of their runs.
With the ball, Jackson Bird, Chris Green and Ryan Hadley are likely to be key to their chances.
Sam Konstas, Nic Maddinson, Kurtis Patterson, Ryan Hadley, Liam Hatcher, Matthew Gilkes, Josh Philippe (wk), Oliver Davies, Jack Edwards (c), Chris Green, Jackson Bird
Oliver Davies, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Ben Dwarshuis, Tanveer Sangha, Sam Konstas, Blake Nikitaras
According to the forecast, there will be plenty of cloud cover on Saturday with the chance of some prolonged rain showers into Sunday. Monday and Tuesday should both be dry, clear and warm.
The Bellerive Oval is never the easiest place to bat and with the conditions as forecast, it could well be bowler friendly conditions! We expect a par first innings total to be no higher than 265.
With overcast conditions forecast for much of the opening two days, it could be a tough pitch to bat first on. Therefore, we predict that both captains will want to bowl first in this game.