Pucovski ends century drought in Sheffield Shield comeback

New South Wales 252 and 40 for 3 path Victoria 454 for six dec (Pucovski 131, Handscomb 114, Maddinson 108, Lyon 5-153) by 162 runs

Back within the fray after an eleventh concussion in a 2nd XI sport final month, Pucovski confirmed persistence and poise on Sunday on his approach to his first Shield century in additional than three years.

He floor out 131 off 302 balls, going from 58 to triple figures with out a boundary earlier than getting inventive with ramp photographs and late cuts because the Bushrangers put the foot down.

Aided additionally by Nic Maddinson’s blazing 108 a day earlier, Victoria declared at 454 for six for a primary innings lead of 202. NSW have been 40 for 3, nonetheless 162 shy of creating Victoria bat once more, earlier than rain introduced stumps about an hour early on day three.

It was Pucovski’s seventh firstclass century however first Shield hundred since November 2020 – earlier than his solitary Test in January 2021 – for the person lengthy touted as a future red-ball Australian star.

He took time away from the sport in 2022 for psychological well being causes however has performed 5 Shield matches for the second-placed Victoria this season.

Following opener David Warner’s latest Test retirement, the century was a well timed reminder of Pucovski’s class in simply his thirty fifth first-class match since debuting in 2017.

“It’s always nice to get amongst the runs,” he mentioned.  “A lot of hard work goes into what you do on the field and it was good to bounce back after the little hiccup a couple of weeks ago with the concussion.

“They had the best spinner of all time [Lyon] of their assault and he bowled a variety of overs. The plan was to nullify him as greatest I may and belief my defence.

“He’s just incredibly high quality; doesn’t give you much to hit and toys around with you a bit. You want to challenge yourself against the best and he’s the best. So it’s good to be able to succeed against someone like him.”

Australian Under-19 star Sam Konstas and veteran Moises Henriques survived till the rain arrived on Sunday.

“It was about putting them under pressure as much as we could,” Pucovski mentioned of Victoria’s declaration. “It paid off tonight – 3 for 40 – but we would have liked to stay out there for that last hour or so.”