Western Australia 244 (Boland 4-41) and 168 (Bancroft 58, Inglis 45, Boland 4-51) beat Victoria 144 (Short 53, Gannon 5-42) and 130 (Kellaway 53, Haskett 3-12) by 138 runs
Western Australia booked a third straight home Sheffield Shield final after defeating Victoria and leapfrogging Tasmania to top spot on the ladder.
The dual defending champions needed everything to go right in their last regular-season game to keep alive their hopes of a Shield three-peat. They rose to the challenge, defeating Victoria by 138 runs in a virtual elimination final at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.
Set 269 to win, Victoria were skittled for 130 late on a rain-affected day three of the match. The home side never looked like pulling off the unlikely run chase on a difficult pitch, stumbling to 31 for 3 with their three most experienced batters – Nic Maddinson, Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb – already dismissed.
After coming in at No. 3, Kellaway survived the carnage around him as WA’s bowlers worked in tandem to complete the match on Wednesday.
WA will host the five-day final against Tasmania at the WACA Ground, starting on March 21, after the Tigers blew a golden opportunity to ensure the decider was played in Hobart.
Tasmania started the round in the box seat to secure a home final, only needing to defeat South Australia at Blundstone Arena to lock it in.
WA are aiming to become just the third team this century, after Queensland (2000-02) and Victoria (2015-17), to win three straight Shield titles.
Tasmania won the last of their three Shield finals back in 2012-13 when Ricky Ponting was still playing.