Lloyd Pope took South Australia to their first Sheffield Shield victory over Victoria in nine years claiming six wickets in the match. In a thrilling clash at Adelaide Oval, Pope picked 74/6 to restrict for 207 of an unlikely target of 346.
Victoria is likely to claim a draw with four wickets in hand and 30 minutes left before stumps. On a dry four pitch and with SA having driven the game since being sent into bat on the first morning.
With regular front-end bowlers Brendon Doggett, Nathan McAndrew and Jordan Buckingham on Australia A duty and Wes Agar and Spencer Johnson unavailable after injuries, spin heavy attack against their nemesis.
Before this season’s opening shield fixture, New South Wales at Cricket Central, Pope’s red ball appearance for SA in the past four years was against Victoria in 2021-22.
“I hope I’ve improved over four years,” said Pope. “There’s been a few ups and downs in my career, and I feel like I’m bowling really well at the moment.
“Ben (Manenti, fellow spinner) is also bowling really well and making runs, so the team hasn’t needed a leggie for a while.
“Hopefully that will change for my favour but it’s just nice to see the team winning, as long as I can contribute whether playing two games or every game.”
Lloyd Pope has spun South Australia to their first Sheffield Shield win over Victoria since 2015
Report and highlights: https://t.co/0PgN2jtfKr pic.twitter.com/RTdKlTYpIs
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 4, 2024
“This wicket was perfect for cricket in general, and then spun heaps right at the end, which was really nice, so the general chat was just keep the stumps in play, bowl good balls – pretty boring stuff,” Pope said.
“And Kez (Carey) was saying that to me with one wicket left to go and I was getting a bit excited. He was just saying ‘process, process, process’.
“He’s a Test keeper whose played 30-odd Tests and knows what he’s doing, probably a little bit more than I do.”
He spoke about the enthusiasm for defeating someone else’s who they haven’t beaten in a while.
“It’s nice to beat anyone, let alone someone you haven’t beaten for a while,” Pope said.
“We believe that our cricket is just going up and up, so I think the squad mentality is really good.
“Not just a first eleven, but hopefully a squad that can win a Shield and a one-day cup.”
Both sides will be clashing once again on Australia one-day cup on November 06 at Karren Rolton Oval.
