Out-of-favour Australia quick Joel Paris has taken his maiden five-wicket haul to power Western Australia to victory during Wednesday’s (September 24) One-Day Cup 2025-26 match against South Australia in Adelaide.
Batting first, Western Australia scored 298-9. Sam Fanning (75), Cameron Bancroft (63), and Hilton Cartwright (55) all scored half-centuries for the visitors. South Australia’s Jordan Buckingham (2-33) was their most effective bowler.
Having gotten off to a rocky start in their title defence with a two-wicket loss against Queensland, WA secured a breakthrough early in the second innings. Joel Paris dismissed the dangerous Jake Fraser-McGurk, who had scored 12 of his first 14 runs in boundaries. The Redbacks’ innings never quite gained momentum after that, with a 46-run partnership being their best of the innings. Paris broke that stand by removing Jake Lehmann for 33. He then picked up opposition keeper Harry Nielsen for seven, leaving the Redbacks struggling at 193-6. Paris took the last two wickets to skittle SA for 232 in 44.3 overs, leading his team to a 66-run victory.
Paris (5-42) was well-supported by debutant Albert Esterhuysen, who picked up 3-42 from his seven overs. The only bright spot in the hosts’ batting lineup was Ian Harvey's nephew, Mackenzie Harvey, who scored 76. Harvey continued his rich vein of form from the recent Top End T20 campaign for the Adelaide Strikers Academy in August.
Match 6, South Australia vs Western Australia
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Paris picks up maiden List A five-for
That was Paris’s maiden five-wicket haul in List A cricket, coming after his debut in 2013. His previous career-best figures were 4-21 from 7.1 overs against Victoria in 2021. He later matched that haul with another 4-21 against New South Wales in 2024, but that came from a longer spell of nine overs. After also taking 3-40 against Queensland, he is currently the leading wicket-taker of the season with eight scalps at an average of 10.25 and an economy rate of 4.20.
After playing a starring role – taking 13 wickets at an average of 12.92 and an economy rate of 4.04 – in WA’s 2014-15 One-Day Cup title win, Paris made his ODI debut in a home series against India in 2016, as an injury replacement. He played two matches, which remain his only appearances for Australia to date.
Injuries have haunted him throughout his career, which is why WA has been cautious about his workload; he has played just 29 List A matches in 12 years. However, he has turned up more frequently for the state side in first-class cricket, playing a starring role in their Sheffield Shield title hat-trick in the 2023-24 season. He picked up 40 wickets at 16.47, playing eight first-class matches in a season for the first time. In the two seasons leading up to that, he took 31 wickets at 17.51 (2022-23) and 24 wickets at 20.70 (2021-22). Overall, he has picked 202 first-class wickets in 51 matches at 19.56
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