VICTORIA and New South Wales (NSW) shared the honours at stumps on Day 1 of their Sheffield Shield final in Melbourne.
Marcus Harris’ impressive 229-ball 141 piloted Victoria to 266 for 6 at close of play. For the visitors, Trent Copeland and Sean Abbott shared four spoils between them.

Victoria, who opted to bat, made a solid start with the duo of Harris and skipper Travis Dean sharing a stand of 63. At that stage, Harry Conway, the pacer, made the crucial breakthrough when he lured Dean to drive on the up with Copeland plucking the catch in the slip cordon.

Will Pucovski, at No. 3, began his innings on a bright note, essaying a punchy drive off Sean Abbott.
However, after the lunch break, he played around a nip-backer from Copeland and was trapped in front. Copeland and Abbott then combined to send the duo of Seb Gotch and Cameron White back to the hut. Jack Edwards also played his part in Gotch’s dismissal by pouching a sharp catch in the slip cordon.

With Victoria in a spot of bother, Harris combined with Matthew Short (34) to string together an alliance of 80 for the fifth wicket. Harris also compiled his third century of the Shield season by jabbing Moises Henriques through the midwicket region for a single.
NSW needed a breakthrough and it was Henriques who lifted the side by dismissing Short. The all-rounder got one to jag off the seam and forced Short to edge one behind, where Peter Nevill dived to his left and plucked an excellent catch.

At the end of the day, Abbott struck with the second new ball to remove the centurion Harris to ensure parity was restored. The NSW camp would rue the fact that Harris got a couple of reprieves. Abbott and Edwards were the unlucky bowlers.

NSW, who have won a record 46 Shield titles, last hoisted the trophy in 2013-14 under the leadership of Steven Smith. Meanwhile, the Dean-led Victorian side would be eyeing their 32nd Shield title.

Brief scores: Victoria 266-6 (Marcus Harris 141; Trent Copeland 2-66, Sean Abbott 2-77) v New South Wales. (Cricbuzz.com)