In this article, we preview Tasmania vs NSW, the Sheffield Shield game to be played from March 20 to 23. After six matches, Tasmania find themselves near the bottom of the points table. By contrast, NSW are at the top of the table with 3 wins and 2 draws in 6 matches.
Match Preview and Odds
Tasmania faced Victoria in their last Shield game in Melbourne (March 5-9). Tasmania batted first and were bowled out for 188. On a bowler-friendly wicket, Victoria’s Scott Boland (4/44) did the most damage as Charlie Wakin (30), Caleb Jewell (37) and Jake Doran (52) were the only Tasmania batsmen to make useful contributions. Tasmania fought back by bowling out the hosts for 199, thanks to their bowlers Jackson Bird (4/43) and Jarrod Freeman (3/39). Peter Siddle, Beau Webster and Nathan Ellis took a wicket each. In their second innings, Tasmania managed a better score of 263, on the back of Jake Doran’s 98. Set to score 253 to win, Victoria reached 122/1 before the match ended in a draw.
In their last game in Adelaide (March 6-10), New South Wales took on hosts South Australia. SA batted first and scored 482/8 declared on the back of a ton (125) by Alex Carey and fifties from Jake Weatherald, Travis head, Harry Nielsen, Jake Lehmann and Chadd Sayers. Nathan Lyon (5/152) and Josh Hazlewood (3/77) were NSW’s most impressive bowlers. In reply, NSW made 366/7 before declaring their innings closed. Kurt Patterson (102) was the top scorer, while Peter Nevill, Sean Abbott and Mitchell Starc contributed fifties. SA declared their second innings closed at 178/6, with Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon among the wickets for NSW. SA set NSW a sporting target of 295 which they achieved thanks to opener David Warner’s 69, supported by innings of 78 and 83 by Moises Henriques and Sean Abbott respectively.
In the 8th match of the Sheffield Shield, NSW faced Tasmania in Adelaide (November 8-12, 2020). Batting first, NSW were bowled out for 64, thanks to brilliant bowling from Jackson Bird (4/14), Peter Siddle (3/17), Gabe Bell (2/20) and Riley Meredith (1/13). In reply, Tasmania made 239, gaining a handy first-innings lead of 175 on the back of a ton by Jordan Silk (106). Sean Abbott took 4/33, while Starc, Copeland, Conway and Lyon were all among the wickets for NSW. In the second innings that was a stark contrast to their first, NSW piled up 522/6 before declaring to set Tasmania a winning target of 348. Nick Larkin (161), Moises Henriques (113) and Sean Abbott (102) made tons, while Starc scored an unbeaten 86. In reply, Tasmania were bowled out for 202, handing NSW a sensational come-from-behind win of 146 runs. NSW bowlers Copeland (2/13), Starc (3/52), Lyon (3/60) and Conway (2/26) contributed to the victory.
Bookmakers Odds
Bookie odds favour NSW to beat Tasmania.
Match Predictions
We believe that NSW will beat Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield game from 20 to 23 March 2021.
Summary
The recent form of the two sides suggests that Tasmania will struggle to cope with the superior quality of NSW who are strong in every aspect of the game.