Matthew Short floored after being hit by a nasty bouncer from Billy Stanlake

After a hectic Big Bash League (BBL) season, the Australian domestic cricketers are back in action with the Sheffield Shield cricket. The first few rounds of the premier first-class tournament in Australia took place in November and December before the BBL. The tournament resumed on the 14th of February once again.

All teams have played seven games so far and New South Wales are currently leading the table with 41 points. Queensland are second with 34 points while Victoria are lying second-last with 22 points. In the ongoing round of Shield cricket, New South Wales and Tasmania have taken an early advantage in their respective games against South Australia and Western Australia. Victoria also have the upper hand against Queensland.

The Peter Handscomb-led side scored 330 before declaring their innings. They were in trouble early on but Seb Gotch and Matthew Short rescued Victoria from a tricky situation and helped them post a competitive total. Gotch registered a ton and was unbeaten on 102 while Short fell two runs short of his century.

Short hit on the chest by a nasty Billy Stanlake bouncer

However, there was one particular incident making headlines in this game. Short was hit by a nasty bouncer from Billy Stanlake in the 22nd over of the game. Short who was batting on 12 and Victoria’s score read 74/3 at that moment when the incident took place. The 24-year-old middle-order batsman was struck on the chest and he went down immediately.

All the Queensland players, including Stanlake, rushed to check on Short who was fine. He failed to read the line of the bouncer as the tall pacer from Queensland got the ball to jag back in off the seam as Short tried to evade it.

Victoria skipper Peter Handscomb who was at the non-striker’s end immediately signaled to the dressing room for the physio to come out. Short was fit to continue and batted really well. In his 112-ball innings, the 24-year-old struck 17 boundaries as he stroked his way to 98 before Xavier Bartlett trapped him LBW in the 52nd over of the game. His dismissal ended a fine 124-run stand between him and Gotch as the duo took Victoria from 100/5 to 224/6 and eventually 330/9 declared.