Victoria 8 for 194 (Chandrasinghe 46*, Short 36, Hardie 2-29, Paris 2-34) in opposition to Western Australia
It wasn’t fairly, however Chandrasinghe’s unbeaten 46 off 266 balls held Victoria’s first innings collectively as they reached stumps at 8 for 194.
The 21-year-old Chandrasinghe was set to be dropped from the line-up having scored simply 25 runs in his final 5 innings with returning skipper Peter Handscomb needing to be squeezed into the line-up.
“Ash was out and then back in. Credit to him…to be able to put that behind him and bat all day,” Handscomb stated. “To be able to carry his bat through the day in challenging conditions…was very impressive.”
Chandrasinghe stonewalled all through, most notably in the course of the second session when he scored simply 5 runs off 74 balls and obtained mocking cheers from a wholesome smattering of followers within the terraces.
But he is given Victoria an opportunity of mustering a aggressive first innings complete as they goal for revenge after falling quick in final yr’s drawn ultimate in opposition to WA.
Victoria, nevertheless, have not but obtained a bonus level which is awarded for each run over 200 within the first 100 overs. WA have 0.8 bonus factors having taken eight wickets.
“I don’t think we worry about bonus points at this stage. We just go out there and focus on just trying to get ourselves into as best position as possible to win this game,” Handscomb stated.
There was a lot intrigue over the floor, which has been significantly spicy all through the season however was anticipated to be flatter for the five-day ultimate very similar to final yr’s decider.
There was a notable inexperienced tinge down the wicket offering motion for the quicks though it was hardly a minefield with Victoria left to rue a number of lacklustre dismissals.
After coming into the assault within the eighth over, Morris shortly after celebrated a triumphant return when he had Harris caught at first slip on 15 solely to have overstepped.
It loomed as a vital second with Harris then cracking the following ball to the purpose boundary earlier than Morris redeemed himself by instantly trapping the left-handed opener lbw to cap a whirlwind passage of play. Morris continued his onslaught to hassle Chandrasinghe with one fiery bouncer flying to the boundary for byes.
After coping with rampaging spinning wickets in India, Handscomb appeared to battle adjusting to the pace-friendly WACA floor and made a sluggish 11 off 33 earlier than he fell to Kelly early within the second session.
As Chandrasinghe went proper into his shell, in-form Matthew Short made batting look far simpler as he put away uncommon free deliveries to hurry previous his sedate batting associate. But Short was caught at second slip on 36 after edging a great size supply from the hard-working Paris, who appeared to maneuver higher because the day wore on.
Victoria expectedly chosen Test spinner Todd Murphy over veteran left-armer Jon Holland, who bowled nicely in opposition to WA final week. Murphy has by no means bowled on the WACA, a floor recognized for being unforgiving for spinners. But he’ll be inspired by counterpart Corey Rocchiccioli, who conjured bounce and spin to complete with 1 for 14 from 14 overs.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based mostly in Perth
Source web site: www.espncricinfo.com